Naruto: The Sibling Stars
by Shadow Zeranion
Summary: Begins in the middle of the Wave mission. A pair of orphaned siblings save Zabuza and Haku from death. Who are these two siblings, and how will their presence affect Konoha and a certain loudmouth blonde? ABANDONED
1. Chapter 1

Summary: This story begins in the middle of the Wave Mission just after Haku's talk with Naruto in the field. This story is OC centric, but I think I've given my OCs a good enough background to make this a good story. Many of the events from canon will still happen, but you'll begin to see some significant changes with some events due to the appearance of my OCs. Also, my OCs will have a small amount of .hack//G.U. influence. This influence will be shown in mainly their weapons as well as some of their abilities and jutsus. Still don't expect them to summoning any of the avatars or using data drain. They will however, have some powerful Kekei Genkai, but you'll just have to wait and see what they are. Now that that's out of the way, I proudly present "Naruto: The Sibling Stars"

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or .hack//G.U. if I did I'd use the money I made to build a mmorpg for one if not both of these series!

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

"**Demon or Inner-self Speech"**

'_**Demon or Inner-self Thoughts'**_

**Jutsu**

**(Jutsu Translation)**

**//Scene Change or POV change//**

**//Flashback start or end//**

**The Sibling Stars**

**Chapter 1**

"You'll become strong with a precious person." Haku said as Naruto stood in the field behind. "Let's meet again somewhere."

Naruto smiled and nodded as Haku continued leaving replying, "Sure!"

However, just before getting to the trees Haku said, "Oh, and by the way I'm a boy."

Naruto gaped in shock as Haku disappeared into the trees. As Haku left Naruto behind, Sasuke walked by as well staring curiously before continuing on as if in dismissal. Once Haku was out of sight, a voice from above said, "You know Haku-chan? It's not very nice teasing people like that."

Haku stopped and let out a giggle before replying, "I know Shadow, but their reactions are too funny!" She then looked up and saw a 14-year old boy lying in the tree above her masking his chakra signature. He was about 5'4" and had an aura of determination surrounding him. He was dressed in black cargo pants and a white shirt with a black jacket over the shirt as well as a black cloth tied around his head in a similar manner as Copy-nin Kakashi, covering his right eye and mildly supporting his black hair. Haku then asked, "Where's Sakashi at? I want to see the picture of his reaction."

"I'm right here!" a cheery voice replied from behind Haku as a young 11-year old girl landed holding an instant camera. She stood about 4'7" with black hair cut just above her shoulders. She was dressed in black long pants and a white shirt that was covered by a dark green jacket. What really stood out about her were her warm lavender eyes that were full of hope and kindness. She closed her eyes as she smiled in a way that reminded Shadow of their mother as she proudly displayed a picture of a gaping Naruto holding both hands to the side of his head in disbelief. "I've got to say I think he's got the best reaction so far!"

Haku just giggled at the picture while Shadow let out a light laugh as well. Shadow then hopped out of the tree and stood besides Haku and Sakashi before they turned to go back to base. They walked in silence for a while before Shadow asked them, "He wore a strong mask didn't he? I wonder what he's been through…"

Sakashi let her smile fall a bit before replying, "I know…" She then turned to Haku before continuing, "Are you sure you'll be able to fight him after getting to know him a bit? He's really similar to us…"

Haku stayed silent for a while before calmly replying, "I'll have to. I won't abandon Zabuza-sama after all he's done for me. I owe him my life and so he comes before anything else even if I do feel a bond with that boy." She turned to Shadow and said, "After all, you feel the same way about Sakashi-imouto don't you?"

Shadow nodded and replied, "Of course. We do what we must to protect our precious people."

By this time Sakashi was annoyed and said, "Hey! I'm right here you know! Don't act as if I'm back at base!"

Shadow and Haku laughed a bit and the trio continued chatting until they got back to the base where they saw Gouzu, Meizu, and Zabuza lying on beds recovering from their injuries.

Zabuza looked curiously at the trio before asking, "Did something happen?" Sakashi simply showed the picture of Naruto causing Zabuza to chuckle and the Demon Brothers to laugh. He then took a more serious tone before asking, "So what did you find out about them?"

The trio took a seat before Haku said, "The Copy-nin appears to be training his genin in Chakra control to try and bring them up to scratch in the upcoming battle."

"Chakra control?" Zabuza questioned. "So they're working on water walking then."

Shadow let out a snort as Sakashi giggled. Zabuza looked puzzled until Haku continued, "Ano… Actually they're working on tree climbing, not water walking…"

Zabuza's eyes shot up in shock before saying, "Is the Copy-nin really that stupid? Just about any other Jonin-sensei would REQUIRE their team to be able to tree climb before going on a C-Rank mission. Just being able to stick to trees gives you a huge advantage over bandits…"

Everyone else sweatdropped at the news before Shadow said, "I think he's just lazy… One of their group has already finished the exercise but rather than having her move on to water walking or even giving her a jutsu to learn he's having her guard the bridge builder doing no sort of training in the process. And to put it bluntly, she is by far the weakest of their group…"

Everyone else's sweatdrops grew bigger at Shadow's statement. Eventually Zabuza seemed to recover from the news and asked, "So what will you and Sakashi do when we attack the bridge? You've already retrieved Gouzu and Meizu but both have a concussion from their earlier battle and can't fight for a while. Despite my recovery the Copy-nin will be a formidable opponent and there's always a chance of the genin brats having some sort of trump card."

Sakashi and Shadow thought silently for a while before Shadow replied; "We'll have to take Gouzu and Meizu with us to the bridge. I don't trust Gato to leave them alone after they failed so we'll keep them out of site until this is over. As for the actual battle at the bridge… " Shadow paused and looked at Zabuza before continuing, "You already know Sakashi and I don't agree with you taking this job in the first place. When we joined you guys you promised that you wouldn't force us to work any of the dirtier jobs that compromise our morals. We won't help you assassinate the bridge builder, but we'll guard Gouzu and Meizu during the fight, and if you guys get in trouble we'll keep the leaf nin busy so that you can escape."

Zabuza nodded and said, "That's all I can ask of you. Still with the pay from Gato we'll be able to make a second attempt on the Mizukage and I can finally get a second shot at the Mizukage and hopefully end the Bloodline War. That's the only reason I even agreed to work for that rat."

**//The Bridge: 3 days later//**

Zabuza had just shut off the crackling radio from which Gato was ordering them about. "Hmph, how annoying." The demon of the mist stated rather bluntly. He then turned to his partner and said to her, "Haku! Let's go!"

Haku put on her mask and gave a quick, "Hai!"

Before they leapt onto the bridge however, he turned and saw Sakashi tending to the Demon Brothers, while Shadow sat quietly with his visible eye closed. Zabuza then said to them, "Look after the Demon Brothers, and keep a look out for any reinforcements."

Shadow opened his eye and nodded in confirmation while Sakashi said, "Don't worry, we'll be fine. Just be careful against the Copy-nin."

Zabuza nodded and jumped onto the bridge followed closely by Haku, as Shadow closed his eye again and began feeling for the Leaf nin's chakra signatures.

**//1 hour later//**

"WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?" was Tazuna's frightened cry as he saw his workers beaten and bloody on the bridge. He quickly ran to the side of one and asked him, "W-What happened!?"

The injured worker's only response was, "M-monsters…" before he passed out. As he said this, a thick mist began to cover the bridge.

"They're here!" Kakashi yelled out to Tazuna, Sakura, and Sasuke as the mist began to obscure their vision. _'I was right… He's alive and recovered already…' _as the Copy-nin brought his hand into a half tiger seal.

Sakura then yelled out, "Kakashi-sensei, this is HIS Kirigakure no jutsu?" as Sasuke began trembling.

Just then a voice came from all directions saying, "Long time no see, eh Kakashi? It looks like you're brat is still shaking in his boots. They need better training." As he says this, several mizu bunshins of Zabuza suddenly appear scattered throughout their formation, each with a look of focus.

Before any of them make a move however, Sasuke replies, "I'm shaking from EXCITEMENT!"

The Zabuza clones simply give a wicked eye smile before Kakashi says, "Go ahead Sasuke!" giving his own eye smile.

Faster than Tazuna could follow, Sasuke whipped out two kunai and used chakra to speed himself up as he dispatched the water clones before returning to his place in the formation. _'There!'_ he thought to himself as the water splashed down around him.

His attention was quickly diverted as from the other side of the bridge they heard Zabuza say, "So he was able to see through the water clones. It looks like the brats gotten better eh Haku?"

Haku smiled behind her mask and replied, "Indeed."

"I want to fight him. I need to get back at him for making us look like fools." Sasuke said to his sensei.

"YEAH! YOU RULE SASUKE!" was Sakura's response to Sasuke's declaration.

Kakashi merely sweatdropped and thought, _'She's waaaay too obsessed with him…'_

Zabuza sweatdropped as well and thought to himself, _'I'm just glad Haku and Sakashi aren't like that. If they were I'd probably have committed hara-kiri by now…'_

Haku ignored the shrieking fangirl and thought to herself, _'I'm a girl…'_ (Oh the irony) and said to her master, "He's come quite a way if he can take out your water clones that easily, even if they only have 1/10 of your strength."

Zabuza smiled and said, "But we still have the initiative. Take him down."

A quick "Hai!" was Zabuza's response as she began spinning and engaged Sasuke in close-range combat.

Kakashi quickly pulled Sakura and Tazuna to the side away from Sasuke and Haku's battle while Zabuza watched the battle in interest. _'So he can match that speed.'_ He thought as he watched Sasuke block Haku's senbon with a kunai.

"I don't want to kill you." Haku said to her opponent. "But you won't step down from this battle will you?"

Sasuke smirked and retorted, "Of course not!" using the kunai in his left hand to keep Haku's right hand and senbon in place.

"I see…" Haku stated a bit saddened. "But you can't match my full speed and you've given me two advantages."

"Two?" was Sasuke's confused response. _'How does he have even one advantage? We're at a stalemate for now aren't we?"_

Haku smiled behind her mask and continued, "My first advantage is the water covering the bridge that you made by destroying the mizu bunshins. The second is that you have one hand occupied by my right hand. This means you can only run from my attacks and can't counter." Haku then had her left hand begin flying through one-handed hand seals as Sasuke and Kakshi looked on in shock.

'_WHAT!? WHITH ONE HAND!?' _was Sasuke's panicked thought.

Kakashi began sweating as he thought, _'Shit, I've never seen that before!'_

Haku quickly came to the last seal and stomped her foot, channeling chakra into the water before finishing, "**HiJutsu: Sensatsu Suishou**** (Secret Technique: Flying Water Needles)**" With that hundreds of needles made of water sprung up around the pair of fighters before solidifying into ice.

'_Doesn't want to kill eh?'_ Zabuza thought as he watched Haku with a small sweatdrop. _'Does he really mean that?'_

"Sasuke-kun!!!" was Sakura's frightened cry as she watched the dome of water needles form as Kakshi looked on a bit worried.

Sasuke closed his eyes and held a kunai in his right hand in a half tiger seal and thought to himself, _'Don't panic… Remember the training… Focus my Chakra throughout both my legs'_

As this last thought took shape, Haku brought the needle dome crashing in, before dodging at the last minute by flipping back. When she looked up however she saw to her shock that Sasuke had vanished. _'He was able to dodge that! He's improved more than I thought!'_ Haku's attention quickly shifted to the shurinken coming from above as she flipped out of their path.

Suddenly Haku heard from behind her, "You're not that fast…" Sasuke stood behind her, kunai in hand as he boasted, "From now on you'll only be able to run from MY attacks."

Haku quickly spun around blocking the kunai in Sasuke's right hand at the wrist before ducking down as he threw the kunai where her head had been only moments before. As she crouched down she saw him pivot as he began to kick at her with his left foot. _'These movements!'_ Haku thought as she saw the foot come towards her face. By pure instinct she brought her left arm up to soften the blow, but was still kicked a good distance away.

Zabuza looked shocked as he thought, _'That brat got a lot faster… And that taijutsu style! The way it weaves through his opponent's movements… It's a lot like Sakashi's taijutsu!'_

Sasuke, completely oblivious to what was going through the minds of his opponents stated proudly, "Looks like you've lost the speed advantage."

As Kakashi was about to brag about his students however, Zabuza asked him, "Kakashi? Just who is that brat?"

Kakashi looked momentarily taken aback before replying, "That _brat_ is Uchiha Sasuke, Konoha's number one rookie ninja. The one next to me, Haruno Sakura, is among the smartest people in the village, and we can't forget Uzumaki Naruto, the number one most surprising ninja."

Zabuza quickly processed the information before smiling wickedly, unnerving all the leaf nin present. He chuckled darkly before saying aloud, "UCHIHA, eh Kakashi?" Then to Haku he said, "HAKU! Show this BRAT that he and his Sharingan aren't that special!"

Haku stood up as a chilling wind seemed to blow across the bridge laughing a little as well. "Hai Zabuza-sama. I think it's time to show him that his improvements aren't enough." Then turning to Sasuke she stated, "You'd best activate your bloodline if you want to have a hope of beating me. After all, Zabuza and I have already defeated a Sharingan user!"

"WHAT!" was the combined yell of Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi, as they watched Haku form a handseal. "If that's the truth then why didn't Zabuza find a way to counter mine in our first encounter!?" Kakashi continued.

Haku smiled and replied, "I'm afraid the user that we defeated didn't know all of the abilities behind the bloodline when we fought them. But we know them all now thanks to you!" She then used her trump card and cried, "**HiJutsu: Makyou HyouShou** **(Secret Technique: Demonic Ice Mirrors)**!" As she yelled this, Sasuke was suddenly surrounded by a multitude of mirrors made completely of ice.

'_What is this technique!?'_ Kakashi thought as Haku stepped into a mirror. Her reflection quickly spread to all the others and soon Sasuke was surrounded by Haku's reflection. "This looks bad!" he yells dashing towards Sasuke hoping to get him out, but is blocked by Zabuza.

"Don't forget, your opponent is me Kakashi! You're Uchiha brat doesn't stand a chance against that technique!" Zabuza said to Kakashi.

Haku waited in the mirrors and asked Sasuke, "Aren't you going to activate your Sharingan?" Sasuke just grit his teeth in anger and continued looking around at the mirrors. Haku noticed this and chuckled, "I see… It isn't that you don't WANT to activate it, it's that you CAN'T activate it!" Sasuke just remained silent, which Haku took as confirmation. "Well then, shall I begin?" Each reflection then crossed their arms holding a senbon in each hand before saying to the shaking Uchiha, "Let me show you my real speed!"

With that, Haku began dashing from one mirror to the next at horrendous speeds, stabbing and slicing Sasuke with her senbon. Before Kakashi made a move Zabuza reminded him, "If you go past me to save the Uchiha brat then I'll kill the other two!"

'_Damn…'_ Kakashi thought as he watched Haku make Sasuke into a human pincushion.

Sakura yelled out "Sasuke-kun!" in worry over her crushes predicament. She suddenly was filled with determination and said to Tazuna, "Tazuna-san, I'm going to have to leave you for a moment…"

Tazuna thought for a few seconds before saying, "Go ahead!"

Sakura quickly rant towards the mirrors drawing a kunai and threw it into the mirrors towards Haku yelling, "Sasuke-kun!" What she hadn't counted on was Haku easily turning towards her and catching the Kunai. _'He blocked it!'_ she thought in surprise. (Of course he's gonna freakin block it! You're a hell of a lot slower than Sasuke and you announced your presence by screaming "Sasuke-kun!" What made you think he wouldn't see it coming and stop it?) However, her kunai proved to be a good distraction as Haku was only able to dodge a shurinken thrown from the opposite side at the last minute, toppling out of her mirrors and having a long scratch across her mask.

Kakashi and Zabuza looked surprised while Sakura asked to no one, "Who?"

A large smokebomb then went off blocking a portion of the bridge from view as Sasuke lay in the mirror dome thinking, _'That dobe… What a show-off'_ (He's not the only one…)

Haku thought to herself, "The number one most surprising ninja?' as she pushed herself up.

Then as the smoke cleared a short blond haired kid was revealed, wearing a "Kill Me" orange jumpuit, and yelling, "Uzumaki Naruto has finally arrived!!!"

Below the bridge, Shadow, Sakashi, Gouzu, and Meizu had been sitting and playing poker when they heard Naruto's shout. They all sweatdropped as Shadow said, "Jeeze it took him long enough to get here…" With that Shadow stands up as well as Sakashi and he says to the Gouzu and Meizu, "The battle's heating up… Sakashi and I will stay hidden and observe it in case we have to step in. You'd better come with us, but remember, you still can't fight thanks to the brain trauma…" They all then leave the boat and find a spot to observe the battle without being seen by the combatants.

Back at the bridge, Naruto's arrival was received with mixed emotions. Zabuza was annoyed and threw a few shurinken at Naruto, but these were intercepted by Haku as she threw her own barrage of senbon to stop his attack. This surprised all of the Konoha nin and Zabuza asked, "Haku, what are you doing?"

Haku's mind flashed back to the scene with Naruto in the forest before replying, "Zabuza-sama, this boy… Please let me fight him as well."

Zabuza stood in silence for a bit, but eventually said to her, "So you don't want any interference eh Haku? You're still as soft as always."

Sasuke took this time to survey his wounds before thinking to himself, _'Soft? He's right! Despite all the chances he's had he's only been aiming for non-vital parts of my body and seems to be more intent on slowing me down than anything.'_ He then looked around at the mirrors he was surrounded by before continuing his thoughts, _'I just can't understand this mirror technique. I know it's not just a simple bunshin so the mirrors must serve at least some purpose… Well… We might be able to figure this out with me on the inside while Naruto attacks from outside.'_

Suddenly from right in front of him, Sasuke heard a certain loudmouth yell to Sasuke, "Hey Sasuke!!! I'm here to save you!!!"

Sasuke looked at him incredulously before yelling, "YOU IDIOT!!! If you would that pathetic excuse of a brain of yours then you would not to come in here!!! Now we're BOTH stuck in here DOBE!!!"

"What did you say teme!?!?!? I come to save you and this is the thanks I get!?!?!?" was Naruto oblivious reply.

Kakashi sweatdropped and thought to himself, _'Going to help someone without thinking and in turn making things worse... That's Naruto all right…'_

While this was all going on, Haku had stepped back into her ice mirrors and had proceeded to once again take control of the fight. During a lull in the fighting, Sasuke took the opportunity to fly through a few a handseals before stopping on the tiger seal. _'__**Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu**__** (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique)**__' _he thought as he blew a massive fireball at a mirror. To his surprise the mirror stood there unharmed as Haku calmly looked out.

"You won't be able to melt these mirrors with a flame that weak." Haku replied from her mirror. She then continued her assault, before pausing and saying, "Trying to follow me with your eyes is impossible. At your level you'll never be able to catch me."

Naruto defiantly yelled out, "Screw you! **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**** (Shadow Clone Technique)**" despite Sasuke's protests.

As the clones leapt towards the mirrors, Haku suddenly left her mirror again and eliminated all the clones in the space of less than a second. "I'm sorry, but this technique allows me to warp between mirrors almost instantly. To me you might as well be moving in slow motion!"

With that statement Kakashi finally understood and said aloud, "Of course… For any kid to master a jutsu like this as well as using an advanced element so easily… It's a Kekei Genkai isn't it?"

At his statement, Zabuza just laughed while Sakura asked, "What's that?"

When he heard this, Kakashi elaborated, "A Kekei Genkai or Advanced Bloodline is an ability passed on through a families lineage. Basically it's a jutsu that can only be used by your ancestors and someone of their decent. To give you an idea of their power, the Sharingan I use is the Kekei Genkai of the Uchiha clan."

Kakashi's explanation was cut short as he heard, "So what!?" from inside the mirrors. "I have a dream to fulfill and I won't die until I complete it!" Naruto yelled in defiance.

From their hiding spots Shadow and Sakashi looked on in surprise at the blond's words and determination. _'This one is different…' _Shadow thought as Sakashi smiled softly at the blond's attitude.

Haku in turn looked into Naruto's eyes and thought, _'Dream…'_

**//Flashback: 8 years ago//**

A 6 year old Haku sat alone in rags with a black collar around her neck. A broken chain hung from it as she watched a Zabuza dressed in Mist Jonin attire look back at her. The younger Zabuza says, "What an unfortunate child. A brat like you is hated and despised by all… You'll die without freedom, dreams, or even a sense of purpose."

He suddenly stopped as Haku smiles at him and says in a soft voice, "You have the same eyes as me…"

**//Flashback: KAI//**

Haku's thoughts returned to the present as she says, "Becoming a true shinobi is difficult for me… I don't want to kill you, but neither do I want you to kill me. Please don't hate me, but I will protect the person who is precious to me and work for their dreams." She then took on a serious look from behind her mask and said in a harder voice, "That is MY dream, and for that dream I can become a true shinobi and kill you!"

At that comment Sakura yells, "Sasuke-kun!!! Naruto!!! Don't lose to that guy!!!"

Kakashi however stops her and says, "Don't encourage them Sakura. They can't beat that boy even if they defeat his technique." He looks a little sadder and continues, "Because, they don't yet have the strength to destroy their own hearts and take another's life. That young man already know the pain of a true shinobi…"

Zabuza laughs a bit and says, "A real shinobi can't be created in such a peaceful village, because within that village your shinobi can't gain the most important thing! The experience of taking a life!"

Kakashi stands there for a while before saying, "The only way to win this fight is to beat Zabuza quickly!" He then brings his hands up to pull up his headband.

Zabuza chuckles and says, "The Sharingan eh? Is that the only thing you can do?" With that Zabuza takes a kunai and attempts to stab Kakashi in the eye as he lifts the headband. Kakashi is shocked at first but is able to clock it with his right hand. Zabuza then continues, "A shinobi's trump card shouldn't be shown to their opponents over and over!"

Kakashi replies, "You should feel honored. No one has seen my Sharingan twice, and there won't be anyone who's seen it a third time!"

Zabuza chuckles and says, "Even if you beat me, you can't win against Haku! Ever since she was a child I've tutored her in the skills of the shinobi. Even facing Jonin she has succeeded in what she has set out to accomplish without fear of death. Then there is her Kekei Genkai with which she has created a technique far surpassing my own power!"

"There's nothing more boring than listen to a man brag." Was Kakashi's reply as he finished lifting his headband revealing the Sharingan. "Let's fight already."

Unfortunately, the dramatics of this statement were overshadowed when Naruto suddenly yelled from within the mirrors, "WAIT A SECOND!!! You said SHE! Does that mean Sasuke and I are getting the crap beat out of us by a girl!?!?!?"

At this statement everyone but Naruto face-vaulted. The sheer absurdity of the comment during the situation was too much. Eventually Zabuza recovered and said, "Yes! Haku is a girl. I don't ever remember saying she was a boy…"

At this statement Sasuke and Naruto took on looks of disbelief at what they had just heard. So surprised were they that they failed to notice the flash of a camera as their faces were captured on film. Sakashi smiled and showed the picture to her brother and the Demon Brothers before whispering, another one for the scrap book."

When they heard this, Shadow and the brothers merely sweatdropped, before Shadow turned his attention back to the fights. "Pay attention, the fights look like they're about to heat up."

As this was going on, Zabuza turned back to Kakashi and said, "Oh yeah, before we begin, there was one more thing I've been dying to say since our last encounter. Something along the lines of this, 'The same trick won't work twice on me!'" With that Statement, a new wave of mist began to cover the battle of Zabuza and Kakashi.

Kakashi looked worried and thought to himself, _'This technique… It's so thick even Zabuza can't see through it!'_ As he thought this a barrage of shurinken was suddenly launched at him, which he barely repelled.

"That wasn't too bad Kakashi." Zabuza stated letting the mist up a little revealing his presence behind the copy nin. "But the next time you see me will end this."

When Kakashi looked behind him he saw to his shock that Zabuza's eyes were closed. "How?" he asked no one in particular as Zabuza faded back into the mist.

From within the mist he heard Zabuza say, "It's simple. You overrated your Sharingan! When we last fought you acted as if you knew the outcome of the battle, but that prediction was proven false. I also know for a fact from my battle with the other Sharingan user that you can't read minds either! You simply created a scenario where your opponent thinks you can! You're technique basically involves a combination of hypnotism and you're eyes ability to copy movements an jutsus. The first step is copying my movements in an attempt to break my concentration and mental state. Second, is anticipating and copying what I'm going to say breaking down my mental state even further. The next phase is casting a mild hypnosis with your eye and sending subliminal messages to me for what jutsu I should use and slowing my reactions down a bit. With that knowledge you are able to complete the jutsu even before me and thus create the illusion that you can read minds and see the future." Kakashi then hears a dark chuckle as Zabuza continues, "So the solution to beat the Sharingan is very simple. By creating such a thick mist you can't copy my movements and the keenness of your eye becomes useless, and by keeping my eyes closed I eliminate the chance of you hypnotizing me!"

Kakashi then asks, "But then you can't see either. What's the point?"

Zabuza then sounds a bit annoyed and says, "Have you really forgotten already? I practically re-invented the art of silent killing! I can hunt you down by simple sound!"

It is then that Kakashi begins to worry._ 'Shit, calm down Kakashi. It's been a while since you've been in such a dangerous situation, now what would he do in a situation like this… DAMN!!!'_ He then rushes to where Sakura and Tazuna are standing and stand between them and the newly revealed Zabuza.

"TOO LATE!!!" Zabuza yells as he brings his zanbato down on Kakashi while Sakura screams.

**//With Sasuke and Naruto//**

'_That was Sakura's voice!'_ Sasuke thought from within the ice prison. _'Damn, this is bad… I've gotta figure something out.. I think my eyes are adjusting finally…'_

Haku looks at Sasuke with interest,_ 'He's beginning to dodge the strikes I make on his critical areas. It's like he's slowly getting used to my movements. It looks like he can actually see something…'_ then aloud to him he says, "It looks like you're starting to see. I'll have to end it in this next move."

'_He's coming!!!'_ thought Sasuke a bit panicked. _'Calm down… Concentrate… And see through it!!!'_ he thought as his eyes began to change.

In the next instant he grabbed Naruto and quickly moved to the side avoiding Haku's strike. _'He dodged it!?_' Haku thought surprised by Sasuke's improvement. _'Wait, those eyes… So he awakened his Sharingan eh? It doesn't look complete, but it's an accomplishment nonetheless'_ then aloud to Sasuke. "So you've finally awakened your Kekei Genkai. It looks like I'll have to end this now before you can fully use its abilities. After all, I'm too low on chakra for now to defeat you the way I defeated the Sharingan user from before. So I'll have to end this in the quickest way possible." Haku then turns to Naruto before yelling, "This will end it!!!" dashing out of the mirror towards Naruto.

Sasuke saw his movements as he leaves the mirror and thinks,_ 'He's aiming for Naruto?'_ He then focuses his Chakra and moves to intercept Haku._ 'I can't let him! Please let me make it!!!'_

**//With Kakashi and Zabuza//**

"Ugh…" Kakashi says as he diverts Zabuza's strike with a kunai ,but still leaving a shallow cut in his side.

"You were slow Kakashi…" Zabuza comments. "Did you let your need to protect the brats cloud your judgement? You'd best begin focusing if you don't want to join them where Haku is about to send him."

Sakura takes this opportunity to yell at Zabuza, "Sasuke-kun won't lose to that girl!!! Neither will Naruto!!!"

Kakashi then surprises her and Zabuza when he replies, "You're right." He then continues, "I believe in their strength. Naruto has a remarkable amount of determination and Sasuke is an offspring of the Uchiha clan."

At this Zabuza just laughs and says, "That isn't a valid reason to believe in the Uchiha brat. As Haku said before, she's already beaten a Sharingan user, and to tip you off, he was stronger than your Uchiha brat! There's no way he'll be able to defeat Haku's technique!" He then fades back into the mist and prepares to finish Kakashi off.

Kakashi then sprints out into the mist and begins to gather blood. As he's doing this he says, "You seem to think I've only survived in this world thanks to my Sharingan Zabuza. However, you're wrong about that. I'm a former ANBU captain. My skill isn't limited to copying. Let me show my own jutsu!"

**//With Shadow, Sakashi, Gouzu, and Meizu//**

"It looks like things are about finished eh Gouzu?" Meizu says to his older brother.

Gouzu smiles and replies, "Looks like it otouto. Haku-imouto is about to take down the Uchiha and Zabuza-sama is holding all the cards in his battle with Kakashi."

Shadow just looked intently at the battle, but before he could say anything Sakashi said, "I don't think this is over yet."

The Demon Brothers look at Sakashi surprised and ask, "Why is that?"

Shadow then answers for Sakashi and says, "There's something about that blond one. Something familiar, but I don't remember what it is?"

"I have that same feeling onii-chan…" Sakashi replies looking somewhat disturbed.

The Demon Brothers look at each other, not understanding what's happening between the brother-sister pair.

**//With Sasuke, Naruto, and Haku//**

Naruto woke up from just in time to see Haku laying on the ground outside her mirrors and Sasuke standing in front of him. As he's taking in the scene he hears Sasuke say, "Geeze, all you ever do is get in the way…"

Naruto says excitedly, "Sasuke!! You knocked him…" but his voice stops as he looks up and sees Sasuke's neck which had been impaled bay several senbon. He recovers enough to simply ask, "Why? I NEVER ASKED FOR YOUR HELP!!!"

Sasuke replied, "I don't know… My body just moved on its own dobe…" He then collapsed and continued, "My brother… I promised that I wouldn't die until I killed him… You better not die too… Dobe…" With that he closed his eyes and seemed almost at peace.

After Sasuke closes his eyes Haku stood up and says to Naruto, "He took the blows knowing it was a trap and landed a hit on me in the process… He was a shinobi who deserves respect."

She then melds into the ice mirrors again and is about to continue when he hears Naruto say, "Shut up…" It was quiet, almost inaudible, but behind those two soft words was a rage that made Haku pause. Naruto then stood up slowly his eyes looking down at Sasuke's body. "**I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!" ** he yells, his voice full of bloodlust as he lifts his eyes.

Naruto's eyes themselves had lost their vibrant blue and been replaced by a deep read with black slits, the whisker like birthmarks had become bolder and his teeth and become pointed and jagged. All this gave him a feral appearance, but the worst part was the killing intent. The intent was so strong Haku was shaking in fear praying that she would survive the encounter with this beast. His chakra had become a vile red and began to spin off his body before reforming itself into the shape of demonic fox head.

'_THIS CHAKRA!!!'_ Haku thought panicked. _'WHAT HAPPENED IT FEELS SO DARK AND VILE!!!'_ As she thought this she saw all the cuts she had given him instantly heal as the red chakra passed over them._ 'REGENERATION!?!?!? WHAT IS THIS BOY!?!?!?'_

**//With Zabuza and Kakashi//**

Deep in the mist, Zabuza and Kakashi both paused as they sensed the new Chakra. _'This Chakra! It must be Kyuubi's!!!'_ Kakashi thought panicked. He then calmed down and thought,_ 'It's not as strong as I remember, so the seal must still be intact. Still I better finish this quickly so I can check on Naruto…'_

Elsewhere in the mist, Zabuza thought to himself, _'Something isn't right about this Chakra… Could it be Kakashi, no he's not strong enough to create chakra like this'_

Kakashi in the meantime began taking out a scroll from a pouch in his vest and swiped his blood across it. As he did this he said to Zabuza, "I know this probably isn't you're style, but what do you say we skip any more foreplay and finish this battle right now?"

Zabuza just laughed and said, "That sounds interesting Kakashi. But what can you do in this situation? Why don't you show me!"

**//With Haku and Naruto//**

Haku watched as Naruto came charging at her. She flung a barrage at senbon at the blond in an attempt to slow him down, but with a loud roar the chakra created a shield and blocked her senbon. _'His Chakra deflected them!?!?!?'_ Haku thought as she transftered to the mirror at the top of the prison. She then charged in an attempt to stab him from above, but as she approached him Naruto slammed his fist into the ground and spun himself out of harm's way. _'I've got too get to a mirror!'_ Haku thought as she landed after missing the blow. However as she dashed towards the mirror, she felt Naruto grab her wrist and stop her from escaping. _'He caught me!'_ she thought as she felt the pressure building in her wrist. "Itai…" she said softly as his hand began to crush her wrist. As she said this she saw a wicked grin come across Naruto's face as he punched her in the face and sent her crashing through her one of her mirrors.

Naruto looked out and saw Haku beginning to stand up. He then charged at her in rage, intent on finishing her off. _'Zabuza-sama… I've failed you…'_ was Haku's only thought as Naruto charged towards her.

**//With Shadow, Sakashi, and the Demon Brothers//**

"W-WHAT IS THIS CHAKRA ONI-CHAN!?!?!?" Meizu asks Gouzu panickly.

"I-I DON'T KNOW EITHER!" Gouzu responds.

Shadow and Sakashi on the other hand have paled considerably and seem frozen in shock. Eventually Sakashi recovers enough to say, "Shadow-nii chan… This feeling isn't this the same as…"

Having finally recovered from the shock, Shadow replies, "Yeah… It's the same feeling that we got from Kappa!" He then looks at Gouzu and Meizu and says, "We're stepping in. Haku-chan and Zabuza can't beat something like this!"

His attention is diverted when he hears Sakashi yell, "SHADOW!" He turns his head just in time to see Haku get punched through one of her ice mirrors and Naruto charging after her.

"DAMN!!!" he yells as he and his sister try in vain to intercept the Yokai powered blond.

**//With Naruto and Haku//**

Naruto continued charging, intent at finishing Haku for killing Sasuke. He was about to smash a Kyuubi powered fist into her face to kill her when her mask falls off and he recognizes her. His fist stops just before it impacts and he says, "You're that girl from that time…"

When this happens Haku looks at him with dead eyes and asks him, "Why did you stop? I killed your friend, and yet you still don't have the strength to kill me?"

Naruto glanced back at Sasuke before yelling, "DAMN IT!!!" as he finished the punch. However the fox's Yokai had already receded weakening the blow dramatically.

Haku merely wiped her mouth and stood back up. She then said, "What happened to your intensity? There are other people who make this same mistake. Not killing their enemy because of pity and leaving them with just their lives." Haku then looks at him with her half-dead eyes and continues, "I see it in your eyes… You already know about the pain I'm describing…"

Naruto looks at her somewhat confused and asks, "What are you saying?"

Haku gives a fake smile and says to him, "Zabuza has no need for a weak shinobi, and by defeating me you've taken my reason for existing.

Naruto looks at her in disbelief, trembling a bit before yelling, "WHY!? Why for a guy like that? Why would someone who would kill an old man because a criminal wants him to be precious to you!?"

Haku just continues giving Naruto her sad smile and says to him, "He gave me a reason to live." When Naruto looked confused she continued, "I once had other people who were precious to me. They were my parents. I was born in a small snowy village in the Country of Mist. I was happy… My parents were very kind people, but when I got older I learned just how cruel the world really was."

Naruto looked at her and when she paused he asked her, "How cruel the world is?"

Haku in turn looked at her blood and responded, "That's when my father killed my mother and then tried to kill me… The country of mist has been in countless civil wars and during these wars bearers of Kekei Genkai came to be hated. Because of this we were hunted down though used as weapons in countless battles. In war we were tools and soldiers, but in peace we were scapegoats. When my father found out my mother carried a Kekei Genkai he killed her and then turned to finish me. In an act of desperation my bloodline activated and I wound up killing my own father…"

At this news Naruto looked shocked but before he could say anything Haku continued. "After I killed my father I finally found the most painful thing… The fact that I was in this world, but was unwanted by anyone…"

'_It's the same as me…'_ Naruto thought in shock at this revelation.

Noticing his expression, Haku continued by saying, "You who have eyes like mine… You said you wanted to become the best ninja in your village and have everyone acknowledge you, but if someone acknowledged you from the bottom of their heart wouldn't you do anything for them?"

When Naruto heard this his memories immediately went to Iruka as Haku continued, "Zabuza was different from all the others… He accepted me for my bloodline and even took me in because of it." At this Haku began to tear up and said, "I was so happy!" With this Haku's memories of Zabuza began to flit through her mind before she said to Naruto, "Naruto-kun… Please… Kill me."

Before Naruto could respond however, Shadow and Sakashi appeared between her and Naruto. Shadow then looked back at her and said, "Haku-chan you better not have gone angsty and emo right then!"

Haku looked at Shadow surprised until Sakashi hugged her with tears in her eyes and said, "Yeah Haku-nee chan. Did you forget that Shadow-nii and me would be sad if you died!?"

Looking surprised, Haku turned to Shadow before he let his face fall into a sad smile and added, "You're like a sister to us Haku-chan. Sakashi and I have already lost enough people in our lives… We don't want to lose you as well."

For a while Haku is speechless, but soon tears well up in her eyes and she just nods. Shadow smiles, turns to Naruto, and says to him, "Sasuke isn't dead. Haku-chan put him into a near death trance like she did to Zabuza before.

Naruto looks surprised for a moment and then begins to smile and laugh a bit, but is cut short when the Demon Brothers run up next to them. "We've got a problem." Gouzu tells Shadow.

Shadow looks at him confused before Meizu elaborates, "Gato double-crossed us. He's got a boat full of mercenaries here and their talking about "killing a few tired ninjas and getting paid."

Surprise covers all the other's faces before anger settles on Haku and Shadow. "I see…" Shadow says through grit teeth. "If that's true then there's no reason to continue this fight. I guess I'll tell Zabuza and top the ba…" He stops short however as the fog where Kakashi and Zabuza are fighting begins to lift. His blood runs cold when he begins to hear a chirping noise, and as he looks into the fog seems to stare in shock.

Sakashi quickly snaps him out of it however when she says, "Shadow! This technique!"

Shadow nods and says, "I'll save Zabuza. Sakashi, you and Haku get ready for the mercenaries."

With that Shadow flashes through a few handseals before charging into the mist with his jutsu active, his visible eye focused on what was ahead of him. As he dashes through the dissipating mist he sees Kakashi with his hand encased in lightning. Shadow increases his own speed and moves to intercept the copy-nin.

**//With Kakashi and Zabuza//**

Thing were not looking good for the Demon of the Mist. Kakashi's dogs had pinned him down so that he couldn't move and to top it all off he had to listen to the copy-nin continued babble.

"…You needed money for revenge, and you also needed to avoid the hunter-nins. That's probably why you sold yourself to scum like Gato…" Kakashi continued as he lectured Zabuza. He then went through three handseals. After this lightning began to crackle and suddenly encased his right-hand.

'_WHAT!?!?!? It's that technique!?'_ Zabuza thought as he saw the lightning pulse around Kakashi's hand.

Kakashi, attributing Zabuza's shock to seeing the jutsu for the first time continued, "You are too dangerous. You're trying to kill Tazuna-san and thus trying to eliminate an entire county's "courage." He seeks to build a bridge of hope for his people. Your ambition sacrifices too many people in the process! That isn't what a shinobi should do!"

Zabuza getting over the shock at seeing the jutsu eventually replied, "I don't give a damn… I fight for my own ideals and that won't change!!!"

Kakashi merely looks at him with the Sharingan before saying, "I'll ask you once more. Surrender!"

Zabuza looks straight into Kakashi's eyes a and simply says, "No."

With that, Kakashi begins to charge at Zabuza, his jutsu ripping through a part of the bridge as he charged. As he approaches Zabuza he yells out, "**Raikiri**** (Lightning Blade)**" but as he says that he realizes he isn't alone in calling the name of his technique.

Suddenly in front of him, Shadow appears with his own lightning covered hand and thrusts his hand forward catching Kakashi's technique with his own. Kakashi is so shocked by this turn of events that he doesn't react in time as Shadow kicks him away from Zabuza, and recovers his footing a short distance away. The biggest shock to him however was when he looked into Shadow's visible eye and saw it was red with three black tomoes visible. _'SHARINGAN!?!?!?'_ Kakashi thinks not believing what he's seeing right in front of him.

"There's no longer a reason to fight Kakshi-san, Zabuza." Shadow says when he's sure Kakashi isn't going to charge again. Then smiling at Kakashi's expression he continues, "Gato's double-crossed us. He's got an army of thugs and mercenaries ready to take us out at the end of the bridge."

As soon as he says this the shinobi on the bridge hear a haughty voice saying, "I do so hate when someone spoils the surprise." The shinobi then turn to see Gato standing in front of what seemed like an army of mercenaries.

"So you did betray me…" Zabuza says with his voice full of malice. Then to Kakashi he says, "There's no longer a reason for us to fight Kakashi. Call off you're dogs, I have no reason to kill the bridge builder now."

Kakashi nods before letting his nin-dogs disappear. He then turns his attention back to Shadow and asks him, "Why do you have the Sharingan?"

Shadow looks at Kakashi annoyed and replied, "Not the best time. We can talk later."

Kakashi nodded and turns his attention to Sakashi, Haku, and Naruto as they come to join him. To his surprise he sees that both of Sakashi's eyes are spinning with two fully developed Sharingan just like her brother's._'Two new Sharingan users in the same day… The council is gonna pitch a fit when they hear about this'_ He justshakes his head before asking, "So… Any ideas? I'm almost out of Chakra…"

Sakashi merely smiled and replies, "My brother and I will kill Gato and use some big jutsus to scare them off."

Kakshi sweatdrops at the announcement, a bit skeptical of their abilities, and asks her in a joking manner, "So when do you want to start?"

Shadow smirked as he pointed two fingers towards Gato and said, "Now! **Raiton: Dangan no Ikazuchi!**** (Lightning Style: Thunder Shot)**" As he yelled out his technique Electricity built up on his fingers and suddenly shot off in a bolt of lightning striking Gato in the heart. The small crime lord didn't even get to yell out as his heart stopped and he hit the ground dead.

The mercenaries stood there in shock that their meal ticket had been killed so quickly, while Zabuza looked a bit disappointed about this and said, "I was hoping to have my shot at him for betraying us…"

He was broken out of these thoughts when Sakashi flashed through a series of handseals coming to a stop on the tiger seal and yelling out, "**Katon: Karyu Endan!**** (Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bullet)**" She then breathes out a large dragon made of fire which burns through a good 20 of the mercenary ranks.

With their sudden drop in number some of the mercenaries begin to look worried. However, that worry is multiplied tenfold when an arrow suddenly lands in front of them and they see the people of wave standing at the other end of the bridge. "If you take one more step the citizens of this country will stop you with everything we've got!" Inari declares from the front of the crowd. With that the mercenaries shriek and scramble for the boats in an attempt to escape, and the civilians of wave cheer in celebration at the end of Gato's reign.

Kakashi pulls his headband down and gives his signature eye-smile before turning to Sakashi and Shadow and stating, "Now that this crisis is over, do you two mind telling me why you two have the Sharingan?"

Shadow just grimaced at Sakashi before saying, "I knew we'd get discovered sooner or later. Let's go back to Tazuna's house and we'll explain there."

Kakashi thought it over for a bit before nodding and the two groups of shinobi headed back to the bridge builders house.

Well that's it for the first chapter of Naruto: The Sibling Stars. This is my first fan fiction so reviews would really be appreciated. Thanks for reading it and I can't wait to read your reviews!


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back with my second chapter of Naruto: The Sibling Stars! The new chapter will give you a little more information on Shadow and Sakashi, but don't expect me to give you their whole history quite yet (would be pretty boring if I did that!) **

**I'd like to thank vampireknight364 and Dragon Man 180 for their reviews! For those of you who didn't review, just remember, if you don't give me any feedback then I can't improve my story. This is my first fanfic so constructive criticism is encouraged, and if you liked something about my writing then you should tell me so I know to write more things like it! Now on with the story!!!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or .hack//G.U. if I did I'd use the money I made to build a mmorpg for one if not both of these series!

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

"**Demon or Inner-self Speech"**

'_**Demon or Inner-self Thoughts'**_

**Jutsu**

**(Jutsu Translation)**

**//Scene Change or POV change//**

**//Flashback start or end//**

**The Sibling Stars**

**Chapter 2**

"Alright, we're here at Tazuna's house, the village medic is taking care of the Demon Brothers' concussion, and Haku and Zabuza have been checked over and are fine… Now if you don't have any more concerns, why do you two have the Sharingan?" Hatake Kakashi asked the 14-year old seated before him.

Shadow sighed and quickly assessed the gathered ninja. His sister Sakashi sat next to him while Haku and Zabuza sat off to the side ready to jump in if things got ugly. Gouzu and Meizu were both having their concussions treated and would be back to normal in the next few days. The Uchiha was glaring at him as if by simply looking he could solve the mystery while his pink-haired banshee was fussing over his battered condition. The blonde Jinchuuriki had taken a seat next to Haku, seemingly oblivious as to the seriousness of what was about to be discussed.

Shaking his head a little Shadow thought over and over about what he would say to him without revealing too much. It was then that he felt Sakashi squeeze his right hand a little in support. He looked at her and saw to his surprise that she was smiling a bit, but was broken out of his musings when she shifted her left-hand into a familiar position where her left-hand was the back of his right-hand. Shadow was confused for a bit before understanding dawned and he smiled at her. He then turned to the now impatient Copy-nin.

Rather than going into an explanation however, he asked a question, "Kakashi-san… Was that technique you used, the **­****Raikiri** your own invention?"

Kakashi looked surprised for a moment before his gaze hardened and replied, "It was… It's my only original technique so I'd actually like to know why you knew how to perform it."

Rather than intimidating the young teen however, it seemed to have the opposite effect and the boy relaxed. _'I knew that his name was familiar even though I'd never met him…'_ Shadow's smile grew bigger before saying, "In that case I think this should two words should suffice for my explanation Inu-san."

At this retort, Kakashi's eyes flew open in pure uninhibited shock. _'How the hell does this 14-year old kid know my ANBU designation!?!?!?'_ He quickly brought his reactions under control and said in a stern voice with laced killing intent, "You'd better have a good explanation."

Shadow remained unaffected and simply said in a firm voice, "Zeranion Takaito…"

For a moment nothing was said. The three leaf genin just seemed confused while their instructor had actually sat down and held his head at the implications of the name. Zabuza appeared interested while Haku held a sad smile as if she had some hidden knowledge about the meaning. Sakashi on the other hand just held her brother's hand tighter as her brother gave her a comforting look. Eventually the silence was broken when the silver-haired man looked up at Shadow and Sakashi before saying, "I understand… We can talk more later… In private…"

With that the copy-nin stood up to leave but was stopped when a certain pink-haired banshee started screaming, "NANI!?!?!? WE WAIT ALL THIS TIME FOR AN EXPLANATION AND THEY GET AWAY WITH A NAME!?!?!?"

Kakashi looked sharply at Sakura, who promptly shut up, and replied in a firm voice of authority, "I have found that to be satisfactory. They are not a threat and I don't like you're questioning my judgment on this matter."

Sasuke on the other hand was still seething at the abrupt end to the conversation. _'How? HOW!?!?!? I WAS SURE ITACHI WIPED ALL OF US OUT BESIDES ME!!! SO HOW DO THEY HAVE THE SHARINGAN!?!?!? WHY ARE THERE MORE UCHIHA ALIVE!?!?!? WHERE HAVE THEY BEEN ALL THIS TIME!?!?!?'_

As if sensing his pupil's thoughts, Kakashi said to him, "I don't want you questioning them Sasuke. They will tell you when they trust you. There's a good reason they're so careful." And with that the silver-haired man left to go clear his head.

For a moment, all was quiet until Naruto asked, "I don't get it… What's the big deal about them having the Sharingan?" Everyone face-vaulted at this statement and Naruto just looked at them puzzled.

**//Outside with Kakashi//**

Kakashi left the house, eye-smiling as an irate Sakura started screaming something about blonde idiots who don't pay attention. He walked into the forest as memories over a decade old started to flit through his head.

When he finally came back to the present, he noticed that night had fallen. The stars were spread across the sky and the new moon was nowhere in sight, allowing a breathtaking view of the stars. "Zeranion Takaito eh…" He said aloud as he looked into the night sky. "Looks like it's time for me to fulfill my promise."

"I guess it's time we fulfill ours as well…" a voice rang out from behind.

Kakashi turned around and saw Shadow and Sakashi sitting behind him. Shadow was leaned against a tree looking up at the stars as well as his younger sibling sat in his lap gazing at the stars as well. The silver-haired Jonin just gave his trademark eye-smile and said, "So I guess your parents told you about me."

Shadow smirked a bit and replied, "Yeah… Being missing-nin they told us as much as they could about who we could trust from Konoha. Otou-san said that if we ever met you to thank you for giving him the scroll for **Raikiri**."

"Did he now?" Kakashi asked as he took a close look at the two siblings. The younger one had relaxed in the security of her Brother's presence and seemed to be content. It was an expression of utmost trust. Shadow on the other hand had dropped his smirk and let his mask drop. In his fully revealed face he held a look of almost longing as he gazed at the stars, but of determination to protect the one who sat relaxed in his lap. When he took a closer look however, he was startled to see how much older his open eye looked. It held such a multitude of emotions that Kakashi wondered just what he had done in his short life. He remained silent for a while before asking in hopes of breaking the tension, "So what's with the headband? I mean I'm sure you admire me from your old man's stories about me, but that's kind of pushing it."

This didn't quite have the effect that he wanted as Shadow looked at him with that same pained eye. In fact if it was possible he looked even older, as his sister looked at her brother with caring eyes. Shadow smiled a little at her look and lifted his headband and showed what was underneath to the Jonin while pulling his sister closer in a hug with his left arm. When Kakashi saw what was underneath he visibly flinched. Shadow just widened his sad smile as he replaced the headband. Once it was back in place Kakashi seemed to recover and said to the young man, "I see why you keep that headband on…"

Shadow merely nodded in recognition and brought his gaze back to the stars, his left-arm still wrapped around his little sister. After a moment Sakashi spoke up and asked, "So does that blonde boy know he's a Jinchuuriki?"

Kakashi looked up sharply at this and said, "You two are very bright aren't you? How did you figure it out?"

Sakashi flushed a bit at the compliment and didn't answer, instead opting to hide deeper in her brother's hug. This puzzled Kakashi until her brother spoke up for her, "Gomen Kakashi-san… Sakashi is very shy around people she doesn't know well. As to your question… We've… Had experiences of our own involving a Jinchuuriki, and Yokai has a very unique feel to it…" He finished with a haunted look, this time clutching his sister closer to him with both arms.

Seeing his reaction, Kakashi decided not to delve further and merely nodded. Shadow then asked a question that surprised Kakashi, "So what's our cousin like?"

Kakashi thought about things for a moment before replying, "Sasuke? I guess the best way to describe him would be bitter. When Itachi slaughtered your relatives he only left him alive. He's become an avenger, and his "ambition" is to kill your other cousin and restore your father's clan."

Shadow replied sharply to Kakashi's comment and said, "The Uchiha are NOT Otou-san's clan and they sure as hell aren't OUR clan either. We're ZERANION not UCHIHA. THEY disowned him when they drove him to become a missing-nin. Sasuke and us are related by blood, not by clan!" He fumed for a while before continuing, "As for my cousin's "ambition"… He needs to suck it up and stop being a brat! So what if he saw his clan and parents die! He's had it a lot easier than some of the people we've met! He still had the safety and the security of a village to support him while others have been left with nothing!"

The silver-haired Jonin looked surprised by this reaction before his eye softened and he said, "Does this have anything to do with what you and your sister went through?"

The young man's eyes softened at Kakashi's question. He looked down to see that Sakashi seemed to have fallen asleep. He let a small smile slip onto his face before continuing, "When Otou-san and Okaa-san were killed Sakashi and I had nothing left except each other and the scrolls that our parents left us under the house. Every day was a struggle to survive. Our dear cousin had the luxury of being within a village when training and having a warm safe bed to sleep in when he was tired. We on the other hand had to train long and hard to make sure we weren't killed by bandits or missing nins for our eyes, and had to sleep with one eye open or risk death every damn night! We couldn't even join another ninja village for risk of being exploited! A Chunin from Amegakure once overheard me talking to Sakashi about our bloodline and tried to kidnap her so that they could BREED her! I'm just lucky I was able to kill him before he got away…" The 14-year old took a deep breath before continuing. "Sasuke needs to learn there are other things to life besides revenge. The dead are dead and there's no changing that. We can only learn from our mistakes and move forward."

"You seem very mature for your age…" Kakashi responded carefully. He didn't want to bring up too many bad memories, but it was necessary for them to get this out of the way before they met with the Hokage.

Shadow snorted and responded, "I had to grow up a heck of a lot faster in order to survive." His gaze then softened again as he continued, "That and it's not too easy to remain innocent when you've had to endure as much as what we've had to. I'm just glad that my imouto still has her innocence after every thing that we've been through. It's the only thing that kept me sane sometimes. No matter how many people we've had to kill she's never stopped caring and no matter what we went through she's always been able to bring a little bit of happiness…" By the end of his short speech he was smiling at his sleeping sister. She looked so open and pure in her sleep, and Kakashi couldn't help but smile as well as the young girl snuggled into her brother in her sleep. It was hard to believe that this innocent little girl had killed about 20 men a few hours ago.

However, Shadow's speech had helped Kakashi get a better evaluation of the two's mental states. It was then that he realized something was amiss and asked the young man, "She didn't see them die did she?"

At this question Shadow looked sharply at Kakashi. "And you say we're bright… Yeah, Okaa-san put her under a genjutsu so that she wouldn't wake up during the fight. I'm glad… I don't know how she would have turned out if she had to see that when she was 5-years old…"

For a while, neither of them spoke. Eventually Kakashi broke the silence and asked, "This probably isn't a very comfortable topic for you but I really need to know. How did they die?"

Shadow sat in silence for a while before looking back at the stars and continuing. "The hunter-nin somehow tracked us down to the cabin we were living in at the time. Thanks to the alarm seals, my parents knew they were there before they were even a mile away. When that happened Okaa-san put Sakashi to sleep with the genjutsu and had me take her away in an underground tunnel they built into the floor of the cottage. Our parents were always very careful… Anything that indicate that there were children in the house was hidden underground where a Byakugen user would never look, and us being underground made it so that we would be safe as well… Otou-san told me to go and not look back, but of course I didn't listen… Once we got to the other end of the tunnel I went back to see what happened to our parents. At that point in my life my stealth was probably about mid-Chunin level given how much of my training revolved around it. It also helped that the hunter-nin were completely focused on wiping out two missing-nin and didn't know or find evidence of their children… I got back just in time to see the start of the fight."

His expression grew grim as he prepared to continue onto the actual attack. "The team seemed to have been specifically designed to wipe out my parents, there were four of them in all… In the opening seconds of the attack they took advantage of my mother's only major weakness and killed her in the opening moments of the attack. I think she expected this though because before she died she activated a case of explosive tags she'd hidden in the yard and killed two of the four hunter-nins. Otou-san didn't go down without a fight either. I still remember it like it was yesterday…" With that Shadow closed his eyes before continuing to what happened in his father's battle.

**//Flashback 6 years ago//**

Takaito didn't pause to mourn his wife's death. They knew it would happen before the hunter-nin had even stepped into their front-yard. Instead he used the distraction to throw a barrage of shurinken and kunai at the shell-shocked third hunter nin. The hunter nin didn't even have a chance to block as the shurinken and kunai imbedded them into his torso killing him. _'Must have been a rookie…'_ he thought as he turned to the last one. Who was still hidden in the trees.

"That was a bit surprising." The last member of the team said as he stepped out of the trees. To Takaito's surprise he saw the last member dressed in ANBU clothing with a Weasel mask. He was brought out of his thoughts as the figure continued, "However, those fools should have been more careful, and that rookie shouldn't have been on such mission yet even if he was a Hyuuga." The ANBU's voice then took on an almost respectful tone. "After all, it's not the best idea to send a rookie against a former ANBU captain and his second in command. Isn't that right? Uchiha Takaito…"

Takaito just continued watching his opponent with his now active Sharingan. The ANBU looked pretty young, but the tone of his voice screamed veteran in his mind. He dropped into his own version of the Uchiha's interceptor fist stance and to his surprise, his opponent dropped into a similar stance. He smiled a bit at this and said, "Sorry, but when I left Konoha and became a missing-nin I gave up my family name. Uchiha Takaito and ANBU captain no longer exists. All that remains is myself. Zeranion Takaito, missing nin, and former Rekka no Konoha (Raging Fire of Konoha)!"

The younger Uchiha only gave a respectful nod before throwing a few shurinken. He then flashed through a few seals before saying, "**Shurinken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**** (Shurinken Shadow Clone Technique)!**" With that the few kunai suddenly became a massive wall of throwing stars, which were flying straight towards Takaito.

The former Uchiha only smiled flashing through some seals himself before yelling, "**Doton: Doryuheki**** (Earth Style: Earth Release Wall)**" Chakra infused soil then spewed forth from his mouth creating a large wall to guard him from the shurinken barrage. He flashed through some more seals as he heard the shurinken thump against the wall before jumping out from behind the wall and blowing a gigantic fireball at his opponent, "**Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu**** (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique)**"

The ANBU watched in surprise as the C-rank but effective jutsu came billowing towards him. He jumped over the fireball in order to dodge it, and drew a kunai launching an overhead slash at his opponent.

His opponent quickly jumped out of the way flashing through even more seals at speeds that the Uchiha could barely keep up with and this was only thanks to his Sharingan before yelling out, "**Katon: Karyu Endan** **(Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bullet**)" blowing a large flame dragon towards the Uchiha. To his mild surprise his opponent flew through a shorter series of seals before yelling out, "**Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu**" The fireball and dragon met, resulting in a large explosion that hid the combatants from each other.

When the smoke cleared, Takaito had already finished another series of handseals and put his hands onto the ground shouting out, "**Doton: Doryuudan no Jutsu!**** (Earth Style: Earth Draggon Bullet Technique)**" A massive dragon of Earth came roaring out of the ground but to the ANBU's immense surprise the dragon instead of heading for him, headed for the giant wall created from the earlier **Doton: Doryuheki** which was still riddled with hundreds of shurinken. When the Dragon smashed into the wall, it broke in a massive blast of shrapnel composed of chakra infused earth and shurinken. Forcing the young Uchiha to devote all his resources to dodging, but not getting away unscathed as a larger piece of earth hit him, damaging his left leg limiting his mobility and slamming him hard on the ground.

He looked up just in time to see his opponent finish yet another set of seals, "**Katon: Karyu Endan**" and yet another flame dragon burst from Takaito's mouth heading for the ANBU.

The ANBU was barely able to dodge the dragon, but felt some of his clothes singe from the intense heat as he stood on his injured leg and examined his opponent. "It seems most of the rumors about your abilities were true Takaito-san… A fighting style consisting of rapid high-powered techniques that can be used to decimate enemy forces while constantly adapting to your opponent's moves and strategies, sometimes even finding ways to use their own techniques against them, using the Sharingan to predict their movements and leading them into traps, and to top it all off, handseal speeds so fast that you can cast your high-powered jutsus in such a small space of time it put's even Sandaime-sama to shame..."

Takaito was panting. He had hoped to end this battle quickly, but his opponent was proving more skilled than he'd anticipated. He smiled and said, "You're not too bad yourself! Even if you have the Sharingan, there aren't many people who escape so many of my combos, especially when you're injured and have lost mobility." He gave his opponent a careful gaze before asking, "What's your name kid?"

The young Uchiha looked surprised for a moment before responding, "My name is Uchiha Itachi…"

Takaito looked surprised for a bit before he laughed a little, "So all this time I've been fighting my nephew! I haven't seen you since you were 5 years old. How's my idiot of an older brother doing anyways? Still preaching about Uchiha superiority?"

Itachi gave no signs of emotion and just replied, "Hai, he still seems to believe that our Sharingan makes us superior to all other clans. He sees me as proof of this seeing how rapidly I've progressed and calls me the pride of the Uchiha clan."

The missing nin just shook his head a bit and asked, "He doesn't know that you rarely train with the Sharingan does he?" letting his smile show to his nephew.

The young Uchiha actually let a look of surprise appear behind his mask before replying, "No he doesn't…" He then fell back into a battle stance and continued, "Forgive me ottoji (uncle), but I think it's time we end this. You fought well and injured me, but all those high power techniques seem to have drained you."

Takaito let his smile change to a savage grin before replying, "Oh I don't know about that. I think I've got enough in me for one more!" The former Uchiha then flew through hand-seals before shouting, "**Raiton: Boufuu no Denkou**** (Lightning Style: Storm of Lightning)**" Takaito shouted as he pointed his hands at the cloud above them and a globe of electrical energy flew into the cloud. The young Uchiha at this point was sweating as he saw the cloud crackle with electricity before a barrage of lightning bolts came crashing down towards him. The resulting explosion tore apart a good portion of the earth, but when Takaito took a closer look, he realized that there was a charred and broken log where there should have been a body. _'__**Kawarimi no Jutsu**__**(Substitution Technique)!**__'_ he thought in alarm just before he felt a sword go through his back.

"You might have thought you'd removed all the items that I could use for the substitution technique but you missed one." Itachi stated as he held the sword stuck into his uncle's back, only to see him burst into smoke. _'__**KAGE BUNSHIN!**__** (Shadow Clone)**__'_ he thought in alarm.

He didn't have time to react however as he heard a shout of, "**Shurinken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**" The young ANBU turned around only to watch as a pair of shurinken strung together with ninja wire suddenly became around fifty. He did his best dodge, but was caught by the wires strung between them and pinned against a tree while his Weasel mask was knocked off of his face, revealing the face of a young Uchiha who was barely a teen with two fully mature sharingan. This however was overshadowed when the ninja wires pulled the young Uchiha into a tree and bound him so that he was unable to move.

"Actually, I left that log there with this scenario in mind Itachi-kun" Takaito said to his now trapped nephew with a sad look on his face. "I'm sorry that I have to do this, but I'm guessing that if I let you go, you'd just be sent after me again once they thought you were strong enough…" He then went through three hand-seals before thrusting his right hand out in front of him grabbing the wrist with his left hand. "**Raikiri**** (Lightning Blade)**" he said tonelessly as he looked at his nephew before charging at him.

Itachi watched as his uncle charged him with Kakashi's legendary technique. For a few instants he did nothing, but soon he channeled more Chakra to his eyes. He felt his Sharingan morph and saw the look of surprise and horror on his uncle's face. But it was too late for Takaito as he heard his nephew yell in a clear voice, "**Tsukuyomi**** (Moon Goddess)**"

**//Shadow's POV//**

Shadow watched from the trees as he saw his father charge his final attack. He saw the look of shock and horror as his older cousin yelled the name of his technique. He saw his father suddenly stop and let the **Raikiri** sputter and die in his hand. He saw his father fall to his knees exhausted, his breathing labored and heavy as his cousin freed himself from his binds with a low-level fire technique. At this point 8-year old Shadow couldn't take it anymore and ran out with a kunai in hand ready to defend his injured father.

Itachi looked surprised at the boy's sudden appearance. He'd expected the boy to remain rooted in fear and only watch as his father died before him. His look of surprise however disappeared quickly and he kneed the young boy in the stomach, knocking him a good distance away. Momentarily winded, Shadow could only watch as his older cousin drew picked up his dropped sword, pausing for a moment and looking into his father's eyes before nodding and stabbing it through his father's heart. At this Shadow stared in disbelief, but was able to hear his father's last words, "Shadow… Take care of Sakashi…" With that his father let his eyes close, and looked almost at peace in death.

For a moment there was only silence before Shadow broke it with a quite but rage filled voice. "Why? Why did you have to kill him?" he turned towards the older boy with his left-eye red and spinning with one tomoe. His Sharingan had activated in his distress imprinting his father's final words in his memory forever.

The older boy just looked surprised for a moment but continued, "It was a mission, nothing more."

"Just a mission?" Shadow asked in disbelief. "You killed your uncle, your own blood just because it was a mission?" Shadow began shaking in anger before gripping his kunai tighter and yelling, "Don't say it like it's no big deal!" he held the kunai in a ready stance, his anger beginning to override reason.

Itachi looked impassively at his cousin before replying, "Do you want to kill me? You have no chance."

Shadow ignored his words and charged at his older cousin intent on ending his life. He was then thrown back into a tree, his cousin pinning him to it with his Sharingan changing yet again. "**Tsukuyomi**** (Moon Goddess)**" Was heard for the second time that night as Shadow was plunged into the illusionary world. For what seemed like an eternity he saw his parents and sister killed over and over again, as the world brought up all the happy memories of them just before the blows struck.

When he returned to the physical world he realized he was crying and shaking even as he was pinned to the tree by his cousin. Itachi then released his cousin from his hold and said to him. "You are too weak to defeat me."

Shadow sat there empty and asked his cousin, "So are you going to kill me then?"

For a while Itachi said nothing for a while before he said to him in reply, "It would be worthless to kill someone like you… If you want to kill me then, curse me! Hate me! Live a long and unsightly life for only yourself clinging to your pathetic life! Sever all your ties and live for nothing but power. Then come before me when you possess eyes like mine." Itachi then let his eyes morph again as he gazed into his cousin's "The only thing you need to do to obtain them… is to kill your closest friend!" Itachi watched his cousin's stunned expression before he turned away, slicing off the heads of his parents as proof of their death and setting their bodies ablaze with a Katon jutsu before leaving his cousin there to whatever fate he chose.

**//Flashback KAI//**

Kakashi stood there stunned at how his parent's deaths had come about. He had known that they were killed by hunter nins along with an ANBU, but he had no idea that it was Itachi who did the deed. What's more is he had no idea prior to his conversation how the Mangekyou Sharingan was obtained. Shadow just sat there holding his sister, giving her a grateful look even as she slept.

Nothing was said for several minutes Kakashi said nothing until he finally asked, "Well I'm glad you decided not to listen to Itachi's words."

Shadow said nothing for a while before responding. "That's not entirely true…" Kakashi looked sharply at the young man, silently asking for an explanation. "After Itachi left me alive I decided I would take the path of an avenger like Sasuke… I trained hard and withdrew myself. The only things I cared about were Sakashi and getting strong enough to kill Itachi."

This response stunned Kakashi, _'He chose the path of an avenger even when he still had a family left?'_ he thought incredulously.

His thoughts were cut off however, when Shadow continued, "But then I actually made a friend and I found that they gave me something far more precious than revenge." The boy turned to Kakashi with a genuine smile and replied, "I found acceptance. I found someone who was able to ease the pain of my missing parents, and when I imagined cutting that bond… I realized it would feel even worse than losing my parents. In the end it wouldn't be worth it."

Kakashi looked surprised by this response, but gave an eye-smile in response before replying, "Well hopefully back in Konoha you'll be able to make even more friends. After all, I promised your dad that I'd take you back to Konoha with me and protect you if we ever met."

Shadow smiled and nodded his head in confirmation, "And we promised tousan and kaasan that if met you that we'd go to Konoha. They always said that Konoha itself was a great place, and we shouldn't let their bad experiences stop us from giving it a go."

"I guess I should have expected something like that coming from Obito's unofficial older brother." Kakashi said with an eye-smile. "Obito always did say that the only one who gave him a chance in the clan was Takaito." A thoughtful expression then came over his face and he then asked, "Come to think of it… If you knew about my promise to your father then why didn't you approach me earlier?"

Shadow thought for a moment then grinned and said, "Well you see when we heard your name we thought it was familiar. However, every time we tried to remember why it was so familiar a black cat would suddenly walk across our path and we'd lose our train of thought as we tried to find a way around it!"

Kakashi just sweatdropped at the response. _'I'd forgotten… __Takaito__ was the one who invented how to make really bad excuses… Looks like he taught his kids as well…'_ Then aloud he replied, "You do remember that your father taught both me and Obito how to make up excuses right?"

The young man flinched a bit and scratched his chin while giving the copy-nin a nervous smile. "Truthfully… We forgot."

Kakashi nearly fell on his face at that blunt answer. _'How the heck do you forget something so important?'_ He then recovered his composure and asked, "How?"

Shadow gave a nervous laugh before replying, "Well the only thing that kept our interest about you form tousan's stories was the fact you invented **Raikiri**. Although we promised that if we met you we'd go back with you to Konoha that was the only important detail we remembered about you… What can you expect? I was an 8-year old kid when tousan told us. The only thing I was interested in then was cool jutsus."

The silver haired man sweatdropped again. Instead of commenting he just said, "Let's go back to the house. I'm sure that some of the people are getting worried, and you can put your sister to bed."

Shadow smiled and nodded before lifting up his sister bridal style and carrying her back to the people who helped fill the void left by his parents.

**//1 week later//**

Things had fallen into a kind of pattern over the past few days, and a sense of normalcy had more or less been formed. Sasuke and Sakura would stay at Tazuna's house, Sasuke because he needed to recover and Sakura because she was needed to "give Sasuke moral support" during his recovery. When Kakashi accepted this Sasuke felt the need to slam his head on a table, but was too tired to move and do so.

Earlier in the week Kakashi had approached Zabuza about letting him and his group come with him to Konoha. The Sandaime was a fair man and Zabuza and his group would be a welcome addition to Konoha's forces. In the end he accepted, partly due to the fact that Shadow and Sakashi had already agreed to go back with Kakashi, but mostly due to the fact that he was tired of living on the run and wanted Haku to have a stable life. Gouzu and Meizu were also tired of life on the run and agreed with Zabuza's decision. Once that was settled they agreed to help guard Tazuna and the bridge, even helping with construction a bit.

Naruto had made friends with Haku, Shadow, and Sakashi. Sakashi was shy at first, not saying much around Naruto and opting to stay next to her brother instead. However, this ended when Naruto started talking about his great pranks back in Konoha, and Sakashi started telling him how he could have improved them. After that particular discussion, Haku and Shadow decided then and there not to get those two angry or risk being pranked to death.

A week after the battle however, Sasuke was given a clean bill of health and among the first things he did was seek out his cousins. He found them helping Haku teach Naruto how to water walk so that he could improve his horrible chakra control. They had been working on the exercise for the past 3 days and he was coming along better than expected as Naruto was able to walk on water easily enough now, but he still had trouble maintaining his concentration as they sparred. As Naruto fell into the water once again, Sasuke just snorted and said, "You should give up on training the dobe. There's no way he can master that exercise."

Naruto scowled at his rival and was about to retort when Shadow spoke up first. "And how the hell do you know what he is and isn't capable of?" Shadow asked disinterestedly as he helped Naruto out of the water. He continued, "He's making some really great progress considering how much chakra he's got to control."

These comments served to make Naruto grin. He wasn't used to anyone standing up for or complimenting him. Sasuke on the other hand dismissed this and just snorted. "Yeah right. The dobe's a hopeless cause. Show me how to do it and I'll pass him up in no time."

Haku narrowed her eyes at the Uchiha's comment. "You should show more respect to your teammate. If I remember correctly he did save your life in your first confrontation with Zabuza-sama."

Sasuke scowls at the mention of that particular incident, but before he can answer he's interrupted by a shriek. "DON'T BADMOUTH SASUKE-KUN LIKE THAT!!!" Sasuke turned around and saw to his displeasure the pink haired banshee coming from the trees. "I'll bet Sasuke-kun had a plan and Naruto-baka just wanted to steal the glory! Sasuke-kun is a hundred time better than Naruto-baka!"

Naruto looked hurt at Sakura's comments. _'Does she really think that?'_ he thought in dismay that his crush would criticize him for helping their teammate. He was slightly comforted however, at the dark looks that were beginning to appear on his friends' faces.

The last "loyal" cough Uchiha wasn't pleased with the appearance, but still smirked a bit at the praise. _'I know I'm superior. I'm an Uchiha. Making bonds with others will just slow me down. That was proven when I almost died to save the dobe.'_ Then aloud he said, "See, even she can see how superior I am to him." Then to Shadow and Sakashi he said, "You two shouldn't be hanging out with trash like them. After all we Uchiha are above them."

At this last comment Shadow's cool suddenly snapped while Haku and Sakashi suddenly looked alarmed. Shadow then let some concentrated killing intent flare on Sasuke and Sakura causing Sakura to drop onto her knees and Sasuke to sweat. "WE ARE NOT UCHIHA!!!" Shadow roared at his younger cousin as Haku and Sakashi backed away from him and Naruto looked on in more awe than anything. He had never seen Shadow lose his cool at any time during the past week. Shadow then continued, "Our tousan may have been born into your clan, but he was disowned long before I was born! Therefore I am not a part of your PATHETIC clan! So DON'T call us UCHIHA!" he yelled spitting the last word out like it was poison.

Sakashi winced as Shadow shouted at their cousin. Shadow rarely let his anger show, but when he did he almost always blew up big time. He had a bad habit of bottling up his anger choosing to remain pleasant for the most part, but allowing his anger to blow up all at once and taking things a bit too seriously. It didn't help that her brother HATED being called an Uchiha. Calling him one was a sure way to put him in a foul mood. Haku had similar sentiments going through her mind, and Naruto was surprised. He'd thought that Shadow would jump at the chance of being part of the GREAT and POWERFUL Uchiha clan, but instead was yelling about not wanting anything to do with them.

It took a while, but Sasuke finally got over his shock, and scowled saying, "So you're saying you're not Uchiha huh? You're fools to throw away the Uchiha name. We are the elite of the elite and wielders of the most powerful kekei genkai in the world!"

'_Bad move…'_ Haku and Sakashi thought simultaneously as they saw Shadow's anger return full force. _'Never preach about superiority due to heritage or kekei genkai to Shadow.'_ was Haku's continued thought.

"Cut the crap!" Shadow shouted. "The Sharingan and being an Uchiha doesn't mean shit! Just because we have a kekei genkai doesn't make us superior!"

Sasuke scoffed and said, "Of course having a kekei genkai doesn't make us superior. The SHARINGAN is a different story however. With it we are capable of defeating any enemy. No one can possibly measure up to us! If you're father was disowned he must have been pretty pathetic!"

Things went deathly quite on the shore as Shadow heard Sasuke's last comment. "What did you just say?" he asked quietly.

Not sensing the danger, Sasuke just repeated, "I said you're father was pathetic if he was disowned by the clan."

Killing intent so dense that it could make a Jonin sweat began pouring from Shadow as he glared at his cousin. "That's it Uchiha." He said quietly. "We're gonna settle this **NOW**!" he roared dropping into a stance that Sasuke was unfamiliar with. "I'm going to beat you down right now WITHOUT my sharingan and show you just how little it means in the real world!"

Sasuke looked shaken by the killing intent, but somehow managed a smirk when he heard Shadow's declaration. He then activated his sharingan while dropping into a standard interceptor fist stance and saying, "Bad idea! I'll show you just how stupid you are to deny the power of the Sharingan and the Uchiha!"

"GO SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura shouted out from her position.

Naruto looked confused, wondering if Shadow really could beat Sasuke without the Sharingan but relaxed when he saw Sakashi and Haku's expressions. Both girls were smiling smugly, sure that Shadow would wipe the floor with the pompous brat.

The battle began as Sasuke began charging, but he was forced to stop as he saw Shadow point at him with two fingers and saw chakra building up on his fingers. Before he could even finish his handseals he heard a yell of, "**Raiton: Dangan no Ikazuchi**** (Lightning Style: Thunder Shot)**" A bolt of lighting then shot out from Shadow's pointed fingers which forced Sasuke to stop his charge as he jumped out of the path of the lightning bolt.

'_What the? He didn't use handseals!'_ Sasuke thought. _'If I hadn't moved before he fired that would have hit me! I have to predict where he'll shoot.'_ He thought trying to break down his opponent's strategy, however he didn't get a chance to dwell more as he was suddenly assaulted by a punch towards his face as Shadow suddenly closed the distance between them. Unable to dodge he was sent flying back towards the trees before recovering a short distance away from the tree line. _'What the hell!? I couldn't react!'_

Seeing his confused expression, Shadow said to his cousin, "You're too slow. Even if you're eyes can see my movements they'll be useless if you can't even catch up to me!" Shadow then quickly closed the distance again and smashed his knee into Sasuke's gut and made him fly back once again.

Sasuke recovered again a short distance away seething about being beaten so easily. He began flashing through a series of handseals, but suddenly paused as his opponent brought up his two fingers again and shouted out, "**Raiton: Dangan no Ikazuchi!**" firing another bolt of lighting and forcing Sasuke to stop his seals and dodge out of the way.

'_Dammit!'_ Sasuke thought. _'How the hell am I supposed to do anything when he keeps firing the damn jutsu and stopping me!? And to make matters worse it doesn't use handseals so I can't even copy it!'_

Shadow smiled at Sasuke's expression and said to him, "So are you disappointed that you can't copy my jutsu since there aren't any hand-seals?" Taking Sasuke's snarl to be an affirmative he just smirked and continued, "Here I'll do a jutsu WITH handseals. Let's see if you can copy it!" With that Shadow put his hands through two handseals before spreading his arms and yelling, "**Raiton: Seiteki no Ryou!**** (Lightning Style: Static Charge)**"

Sasuke watched this with a smirk, expecting to be able to copy it without any problems, but came to a startling realization. _'What? I can't see what that jutsu's supposed to do! He only used two seals to boot!'_ He stood there seething for a bit before charging in and sending a roundhouse kick towards Shadow's face from Shadow's left side.

For his part, Shadow smiled at Sasuke's obvious frustration and blocking Sasuke's kick with his left arm, and smiled a bit darker as at the contact lightning natured chakra flew out of his tenketsu flooding into the young Uchiha. He then grabbed the younger boy's leg letting even more electricity flow into him from the palm of his hand before throwing him away and watching with some satisfaction as his opponent struggled to stand up from the floods of electricity. "Confused? **Seiteki no Ryou** only uses two handseals because like Kakashi-san's **Raikiri** it is almost completely based on elemental manipulation and form manipulation." Shadow told the struggling Uchiha. "The fact of the matter is, that although the sharingan can copy the handseals and chakra manipulation to an extent, it can't copy any complex form manipulations such as my **Seiteki no Ryou** and Kakashi-san's **Raikiri**. There's also the simple fact that you have absolutely no idea how to even manipulate lightning natured chakra so that even if you COULD copy the jutsu, you couldn't use it against me just because you've only learned to manipulate your fire element. Right now your sharingan is only good for copying fire and neutral jutsus, mimicking movements, and seeing some attacks come early." As Sasuke's expression turned even darker, Shadow just continued, "I've worked on my elemental manipulation, form manipulation, and chakra control for YEARS in order to be able to use these techniques! Thanks to all myhard work it's actually possible for me to use A-class jutsus and jutsus with no handseals. You on the other hand seem to want everything handed to you on a silver platter and expect your sharingan to just give you the jutsus others have worked so hard to learn! You don't seem to understand that some jutsus are just too complicated for the sharingan to copy!"

By now Sasuke was livid with anger. How dare this son of disgraced outcast make a fool of him and insult his sharingan! "SHUT UP!" Sasuke yelled out charging at his opponent blindly with a kunai in hand.

Shadow just watched Sasuke charge at him with a sinister smile on his face before putting his hand into a handseal and saying to his cousin, "I'll show you one more jutsu. **Raiton: Seiteki no Kaihou!**** (Lightning Style: Static Release)**" As he yelled out the name of the jutsu the stored lightning natured chakra in his body suddenly came rushing out in a sphere of electricity. Sasuke was unable to react in time and was caught by the wall of electricity and blown back before landing fifty feet away unable to move. Shadow just walked up to the downed Uchiha before saying to him in a hardened tone, "Never insult my family or my friends! They are my precious people and I'll do anything for them! If you do anything to hurt hem…" he then turned his back to the downed Uchiha, but then looked back over his shoulder with his sharingan active and continued, "I'll make you wish Itachi had killed you!"

With that the group of four friends left to find a new spot to train though Naruto was staring in awe at Shadow, _'He beat down Sasuke-teme like he was nothing! He's pretty strong!'_

Sakura stood there gaping at what had just happened. _'How did Sasuke lose!? I KNOW! He must have cheated! That's it! Sasuke will beat him next time for sure!'_

Sasuke on the other hand was in slight shock. _'That cold glare… It was just like Itachi's!'_

As they walked away Naruto asked Shadow, "Neh Shadow… You said you've been working for years to get that strong? Just how many years?"

Shadow said nothing for a while before he replied. "I trained every day for the past 6 years in order to get to the level I'm at now. Even now though I'm probably only about high-chunin to low-jonin in terms of my strength."

Naruto looked shocked for at the answer before getting a look of determination and grinning at the older boy. "If that's the case I'll just have to train harder and pass you up! After all I want to be the Hokage one day!"

For a second Shadow looked surprised while Haku and Sakashi both giggled a bit. After a moment however, Shadow put on a grin of his own. "You won't become Hokage if you can't keep up with the training that Sakashi and I put ourselves through!" he replied.

Naruto just let his grin grow and continued, "Just you wait! I'll pass you up in no time! I'm gonna become strong so I can protect my precious people!"

His three friends just grinned before Haku said with a smile, "We look forward to seeing you become Hokage then Naruto."

For what seemed like the hundreth time in the past few days, Naruto looked shocked._ 'No ones ever said that they believed I'll become Hokage before. It's always been "Like a dobe like you could become Hokage." Or "That's impossible. There's no way you can become Hokage." Before…'_ Naruto futilely worked to quell the tears that were forming in his eyes and simply said, "Arigatou…"

He was snapped out of his thoughts however when he heard a camera click and saw Sakashi show a picture of him crying. "Another one for the scrap book!" She said cheerfully before running as Naruto chased after her yelling for her to give the picture to him. Shadow and Haku just laughed at the scene and smiled contentedly that they could help someone else that was like them."

**//The Next Day//**

The ten shinobi stood in a group at the newly completed bridge saying their goodbyes to the people of Wave. Sasuke was brooding after his defeat at the hands of his cousin while Sakura was still fawning over him like he was god in human form. Naruto strangely enough, didn't seem to notice or even care about this. His time with Haku and the Zeranion siblings gave him the attention he'd always craved, and as a result he'd even managed to calm own a bit over the past few weeks. Kakashi noticed the changes and couldn't help but smile even if he was a bit worried about Sasuke and Sakura.

"Thanks to you we've completed the bridge, but this is still sad…" Tazuna said to the departing shinobi.

"Thanks for everything." Kakashi replied with and eye-smile.

"Yeah! We'll come and visit sometime!" Naruto said with a grin on his face.

"You… better…" Inari replied, struggling not to let his tears start flowing.

Naruto was doing his best to hold back his own tears and tried to cover them up. "Inari… You're sad right? It's alright to cry!"

Inari quickly brought himself together and yelled back, "I'm not going to cry! But Naruto you can cry too!"

Naruto just quickly turned around and said, "Fine… later…"

This seemed to be a signal because both boys suddenly had tears flowing down their faces as Sakura just thought, _'Are they twins?'_

Their thoughts were interrupted when Sakashi's camera suddenly flashed. She then held the photo of both boys crying for everyone to see and said proudly, "Wow! Two crybabies for the price of one! I think this one will work better in my blackmail album!"

The sadness of the scene suddenly evaporated as Naruto began chasing Sakashi again demanding the picture, and the others just smiled or laughed. Except Sasuke and Sakura… Sasuke just brooded and Sakura thought, _'Jeeze how immature are those brats!'_

Tazuna watched them leave with a smile. "That boy changed Inari's heart and Inari changed the people's hearts…" The bridge builder said proudly. "That boy gave us a bridge to "hope" called "courage."

Tsunami then spoke up, "Don't we still have to name the bridge?"

"Name?" Tazuna laughed quietly. "Yeah I guess we still do have to name it! How about… The Great Naruto Bridge?"

Some of the villagers cheered while Tsunami just chuckled a bit at her father's decision and said, "It's a good name."

**AN// Well that concludes Chapter 2 of Sibling Stars. You got some background on Shadow and Sakashi as well as a battle between Shadow and Sasuke in which Shadow proved that the sharingan isn't flawless. I'm sure many of you are wondering about Shadow's mother, but I'm holding off on revealing more info on her for later chapters. You'll also find out more about Shadow and Sakashi's past with jinchuuriki as well as what happened to them in-between their parents death and their meeting with Zabuza and Haku at a later time. **

**Anyways! Thanks for reading Chapter 2 of Sibling Stars! Remember to Read and Review! I can't improve my writing without any comments good or bad!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome back to Naruto: The Sibling Stars! Chapter 3 covers the return to Konoha as well as introducing Hinata to the story. I really can't tell if my story is any good or not though people… I need some feedback here otherwise I can't fix stuff…**

**I'd like to thank Dragon Man 180 and vampireknight364 for their reviews! If it wasn't for your reviews I probably would have given up on this story already! I hope that this next chapter matches up to your expectations! Thanks guys and here's Sibling Stars Chapter 3!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or .hack//G.U. if I did I'd use the money I made to build a mmorpg for one if not both of these series!

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

"**Demon or Inner-self Speech"**

'_**Demon or Inner-self Thoughts'**_

**Jutsu**

**(Jutsu Translation)**

**//Scene Change or POV change//**

**//Flashback start or end//**

**The Sibling Stars**

**Chapter 3**

"So let me make sure I understand this…" the Hokage said heavily as Team 7, the mist nins, and Zeranion siblings were gathered in his office. "You're client lied to you telling you the mission was a C-rank mission when it was really an A-rank. You then proceeded to fight the Demon Brothers, Mamochi Zabuza, and his apprentice on three separate occasions. On the last confrontation you were stopped from killing Mamochi-san by Shadow and it was revealed to you that both he and his sister possess the Sharingan… After this happened Shadow killed Gato using a sealess Raiton jutsu and Sakashi wiped out 20 mercenaries with a high powered Katon technique. You then offered positions to the them and the former mist nins here in Konoha…" he continued in a tone of slight disbelief.

"That is correct Hokage-sama." Kakashi confirmed. Shadow looked slightly amused at the old man's expression as he rubbed his temples, but kept a hand on Sakashi's shoulder to keep her from taking out her camera to photograph the moment. After all, it was forbidden to photograph anything within the Hokage's office unless permission was given by the Hokage themselves.

Sarutobi sighed at the confirmation. "I see…" He then turned to the genin. "Team 7 you are dismissed. Kakashi, I need you to stay behind to help sort this all out."

Sasuke just nodded and left while Sakura followed him like a lost puppy. Naruto however, didn't move from his position, and said to the Hokage, "Neh Ojiisan… Can't I stay? Haku-chan, Shadow, and Sakashi-chan are all my friends!"

For his part, Sarutobi looked surprised by this statement, but then replied. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I have to talk to Shadow and Sakashi about some things that are a bit sensitive so I'll have to ask you to wait outside."

Naruto looked downcast, but his mood quickly flipped when he heard Sakashi say, "Hokage-sama, it's alright if he stays. We've already told Naruto-kun a lot about us!"

Shadow nodded before continuing, "We trust him to be able to keep a secret. Besides we've already told him all about our parents. He can stay so long as he doesn't interrupt too much."

The blonde jinchuuriki smiled and said, "See ojiisan! They trust me!"

Sarutobi for his part smiled. He was happy that Naruto had been able to make some friends and he turned to the group of assorted nins before continuing. "You do realize the council is going to be in chaos at the appearance of two new Sharingan users don't you Kakashi? They'll also be eager about Haku's Hyoton Kekei Genkai..."

Kakashi scratched the back of his head nervously and said, "Yeah, but I did make a promise to their father to take them in if I ever met them." He looked at the Hokage a little more seriously. "As for the council… Haku's already been adopted by Zabuza and therefore part of the Mamochi clan. They can't do anything too her without going through the current clan head, Zabuza. And can't you just tell them that Shadow and Sakashi are orphans and that they didn't want to talk about their parents?"

Sarutobi sighed and continued, "I wish it were that simple… The real problem of the matter is Sakashi…" He turned to the 11-year old who looked puzzled. "When they hear that she possesses the Sharingan they will undoubtedly suggest to Sasuke to use his status as clan head to make an arranged marriage between himself and Sakashi to ensure the continuation of the bloodline…"

When he heard this, Shadow immediately felt his anger flare as his companions quickly moved away from him, "LIKE HELL I'LL LET THAT HAPPEN!" he roared at a volume that made even Sakura's banshee like shrieking seem like a polite whisper, and startling most of the shinobi stationed around the tower. "I swore an oath to myself that I'd protect Sakashi no matter what! There's no way I'm going to allow an arranged marriage! Let alone to that emo brat SASUKE!"

The Hokage sighed and responded, "The problem lies in the fact that since you're father was an Uchiha. Therefore you are technically a part of Sasuke's clan. As a result, Sasuke will be allowed to set up any marriages he chooses regarding his clan members upon becoming clan head at the age of 16 or reaching the rank of Jonin…"

Surprisingly to the Hokage, Shadow just gave a malicious grin and replied, "Long before that Sakashi and I will probably have to reveal our full heritage. I'll admit that we have the Sharingan, but we aren't part of any of Konoha's clans thanks to both our parents' clans disowning them upon their defection! As a result they took on a new family name meaning we're a completely new clan!" As he said this, his grin got even nastier. "Therefore, I am technically clan heir and future head of the _Zeranion_ clan, and can dictate whether or not Sakashi be put into an arranged marriage when _I_ reach the age of 16 a year _before_ Sasuke or reach Jonin which I can probably accomplish faster than our dear cousin."

To say Sarutobi was surprised by the boy's plan would be an understatement. It exploited a loophole in politics that he was sure the village less teen should have no prior knowledge of and left the council with little power over them in the end and even made them a part of it! Once the council was informed of the two's induction as Konoha Shinobi (which the council would hastily approve of due to their greed on obtaining two new Sharingan users) the council wouldn't be able to change their minds without banishing them. This wouldn't happen due to the council's fear of letting the Sharingan fall into enemy hands. Then, even if they were thought Uchiha for a while, Sasuke wouldn't be clan head for a quite some time and as a result could not order them to do anything even if he was clan heir. Then, even when Sasuke did become clan head, all Shadow and Sakashi had to do was reveal their heritage and submit some blood samples so that they could be tested for their claim's authenticity. By this loophole, Shadow and Sakashi would really be part of a new clan with a new name and not be under any obligation to Sasuke. In fact, due to their having the Sharingan the Zeranions might be able to fight on an equal political ground with the Uchiha and perhaps have even more influence if they proved to be superior shinobi in the long run.

The old Hokage smiled as the thoughts ran through his head and said to Shadow, "You are indeed correct… However, I still would like to know who you're parents were. After all the family name of Zeranion doesn't help me much in discerning who you're parents are, and there are many missing nin from Konoha who were disowned, and there were many more missing nin Uchiha than I would care to admit even if they were all eventually found and killed. I don't have any intention of informing the council of your parentage though, so don't worry about them finding out."

Shadow grinned at the Hokage's response before letting his face take on a more somber mood as the mood turned a bit sour. He quickly shook off the feeling before responding to the Hokage. "Well I'm glad that you don't recognize the name Zeranion. That means it's unlikely for anyone else to recognize it either. As for our parents… They are the former "Rekka no Konoha (Raging fire of Konoha)" and "Aranami no Konoha (Raging Wave of Konoha)."

Sarutobi's eyebrows shot up in recognition at the two nicknames. After all those two were fairly infamous A-rank missing nin in the eyes of Konoha. Their defection from Konoha was overshadowed by only a handful of others, including Orochimaru and Itachi's own defections. "So you are Takaito and Hinamori's children eh?" he chuckled. "I'm glad that they bore no ill will towards Konoha as a whole. They were great people." He turned to Sakashi who just closed her eyes and showed a soft smile. When he saw this he smiled and said, "You look exactly like your mother did when she was your age when you smile like that. In fact, I'd say you're almost a mirror image of her."

Sakashi just let her smile grow a bit cheeky before responding, "Yeah, nii-chan's told me." She liked the old man. He had a kind of grandfatherly aura that just mad you want to trust him.

The old man just gave another grandfatherly smile before returning to the topic at hand. "I am curious though as to how you met Zabuza's group and what happened to your parents."

Shadow looked a bit troubled before responding, "I'll let Kakashi tell you what happened to our parents later… I really don't want to have to tell it again… As for how we met up with Zabuza-san's group..." He looked sheepishly at the former mist nins who were smiling at the memory while looking at Haku who was blushing horribly.

Sakashi was smiling the widest. She quickly pulled a picture from seemingly nowhere before loudly saying, "What's the matter Shadow? Are you embarrassed about how we met them?" She then showed a picture of Haku in her hunter nin outfit without the mask and Shadow. In this picture Haku was pinned to the ground by Shadow's body with her eyes wide and a red blush. Shadow looked like he was lying on her in the picture as he also wore an expression of complete shock while blushing a bit pink.

When they saw the picture all of the nins except for the two who were in the photo were laughing. Naruto was especially loud and asked her, "C-can you give me a copy of that!?"

Haku reached for senbon while Shadow got ready to lunge, but both suddenly stopped and paled when Sakashi brought out a black book. They weren't the only ones as Naruto, Zabuza, Gouzu, and Meizu all paled as well upon the sight of the black book the 11-year old now held. She then took on a mischievous smile and said, "Would you prefer me to show everyone the _other_ picture I took that day Shadow-nii? Haku-nee? After all Shadow, you said yourself that Haku-nee is like a sister to you. You wouldn't want people to find "proof" you were doing anything… _Inappropriate_ with you own _sister_ right?"

Both shinobi instantly backed off. Sakashi's blackmail album held way too many embarrassing situations captured on film for them to try anything... The worst part was that she seemed to have created multiple copies of it because the one time they were able to get it from her and burn it she brought out another and revealed copies of all her blackmail photos. Naruto however, had a mischievous glint in his eye and asked excitedly, "What happened! Tell us!"

Sakashi grinned and began telling the story of their first meeting with the mist-nins.

**//Flashback: 1-year ago//**

Shadow and Sakashi were walking through a small town on the border of Wave and Fire Country. They'd been traveling for several weeks, and were both looking forward to a few nights indoors. "Nii-chan…" Sakashi spoke up as they were walking along the street. "Could we go to the bathhouse first? It's been a long time since we've been able to relax!"

The 13-year old boy thought things over a bit before smiling and nodding. "Yeah. I guess we could go to the bathhouse. We've been on the road for a while and we could both use a bath." He had no idea how big an impact this decision would have on his and his sister's lives…

**//With the Mist team//**

On the other side of town, Zabuza, Gouzu, Meizu, and Haku had just arrived in town as well, having traveled for several weeks themselves. They stood just outside the village and were listening to Zabuza give some last minute instructions. "Okay…" the Demon of the Mist said to his three loyal followers. "We've haven't been in a town for a while so let me remind you about the rules. Gouzu, Meizu, keep your henges up and don't start any fights." The two brothers nodded reluctantly, and quickly hid themselves behind an illusion. He turned to the young teen and said to her, "Haku, we can only take one rabbit with us on the road for Kawarimi so only get ONE this time." Haku blushed and looked sheepishly back. The last time she had gotten 30 rabbits for them to take with them on the road since the owner of the pet shop had left on a trip and forgotten to separate the male and female rabbits for the duration of the trip, only to return and find that they had multiplied exponentially in his absence. "We'll go to the bathhouse first and after that split up to find a room as well as get supplies." The three nin nodded and followed their leader towards the bathhouse.

**//Bathhouse Lobby//**

"That felt good." Sakashi said to no one as she walked out of the baths dressed in a robe. She took a seat in the lobby and sat there drying her hair when she noticed the mist nins walk in under henges. She frowned as she noticed that the three males were using a henge to change their appearances and that all four nins were armed, but didn't comment. It would be better to remain unnoticed.

She casually continued drying her hair as she heard Zabuza say to them, "I'll go last and wait in the lobby until you three are done." The three just nodded, the brothers went to the left side where the males all bathed and Haku went down the right side to the girl's baths. Zabuza then took a seat in another seat in the lobby and waited patiently for the three to finish, noting Sakashi's presence and suppressed chakra signature.

As the two sat there silently observing each other a worker came into the lobby with a toolbox. The two shinobi sat silently as he removed the two signs that identified which sides the two baths were for. He then looked inside his toolbox and swore, "Kuso! I left the new plates back in the maintenance closet!" He picked up the toolbox and walked off back the way he came, forgetting that he had removed the old signs already.

A few seconds later Shadow walked into the lobby and saw his sister relaxing. He noted Zabuza's presence, but decided it would be best not to act in haste. Instead he asked his sister in as casual voice he could, "Hey Sakashi, you done?" When she nodded in confirmation he grinned and continued, "That's good. I'm gonna go and take a bath now." He turned towards the baths and realized that there were no signs. Not wanting to take the wrong path he looked back and asked his sister, "Hey imouto, which side is for guys?"

Sakashi looked up at her brother and opened her mouth to respond when an idea popped into her head. "My left is always right." She replied a little quietly.

Her brother only heard "Right" and nodded saying, "Thanks sis. So the right side…" he said quietly going through the doorway on the right.

As Zabuza watched this he was at first shocked, but then let his face show a wicked grin as he realized what had just happened. Sakashi herself had a wicked smile of her own and quietly counted down. "3… 2… 1…" Right on cue the relative quiet of the bathhouse was suddenly cut off as a scream of "HENTAI!!!" pierced through the air.

**//With Shadow//**

"Thanks sis. So the right side…" Shadow said quietly to himself as he walked though the doorway on the right down the hallway. As he walked his thoughts went back to the nin wearing a henge sitting in the lobby with Sakashi. _'Hmm… I don't think he's after us… Mist nins hate bloodlines so even if he heard about us there's no way he'd seek us out. My guess is this is just a coincidence.'_ He was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when he stepped into the changing room and saw Haku freeze in the middle of changing. Her kimono top was currently on the bench next to her and she had her pants pulled off revealing to him her well-shaped body clad only in a set of light blue bra and panties.

For a moment, he said nothing just trying to get his brain to function after unintentionally walking in on the shapely beauty as he felt his face begin burning bright red. He began to stammer out an apology, but didn't have time to do so as Haku screamed, "HENTAI!!!"

In less than 10 seconds after she screamed, Gouzu and Meizu jumped over the wall, their henges disabled and fully prepared for battle and saw what they assumed to be a pervert peeking on their little sister. "WE'RE GONNA KICK YOUR ASS! NO ONE PEEKS ON OUR SISTER!!!" they yelled in unison. Shadow, finally coming fully back to his senses and realizing his danger, jumped over the wall and ran into the forests surrounding the village hoping to escape the wrath of the demon brothers and angry Kunoichi.

**//With Gouzu and Meizu//**

The two brothers watched as the young boy jumped over the wall and began running away from them, hoping to escape. They then turned to Haku who was blushing a scarlet all over her body that put Hinata to shame, doing the best to preserve her modesty. They quickly averted their eyes and Gouzu said, "We'll catch him. Just get dressed and meet up with us so you can get your chance to beat the shit out of him."

"No one peeks on our sister and gets away with it!" Meizu added in, and with that the two demon brothers jumped over the wall after their prey.

**//With Shadow//**

"CRAP!!!" Shadow yelled out as he ducked underneath the spiked metal chain that connected the two brothers as he attempted to escape them.

"You've got a lot of guts to peep on our little sister." Gouzu said menacingly from the tree branch in front of Shadow.

"But now you're gonna have to pay the price!" Meizu said from another branch. Meizu suddenly spun his gauntlet and unhooked the chain and charged towards Shadow at shocking speeds.

Shadow quickly flashed through a few handseals and turned into a log as Meizu slammed his clawed fist where his stomach had been moments before. He didn't have time to rest however, as suddenly Gouzu swung the newly freed chain towards Shadow like a serrated whip. The young boy jumped over the whip and watched it imbed itself deeply into the tree next to him.

As he recovered from nearly being decapitated by the chain, Meizu came up behind him intent on impaling him with his clawed gauntlet. Shadow noticed this and pointed two fingers towards where younger brother was about to jump and yelled out, "**Raiton: Dangan no Ikazuchi!**** (Lightning Style: Thunder Shot)**" and fired a bolt of lightning. Meizu saw this and slammed his gauntlet into the tree branch he was about to jump off of to stop himself a few inches from where the lightning would have blasted him in the stomach.

Shadow didn't have time to be disappointed by this development as he was hit with a fist from behind much sooner than he'd expected. As he was knocked away he looked back and saw that Gouzu had used the stuck chain as a grapple and swung himself over to Shadow's position and allowing him to punch him with his free hand.

'_These guys are good…'_ Shadow thought as he attempted to gain his bearings. As he did this, Gouzu and Meizu had regrouped and once again linked their chain between them, prepared to launch another assault at the one-eyed boy. "I'm still rough with it but I've got no choice…" he said aloud to the puzzlement of Gouzu and Meizu. He flashed through two hand seals shouting, "**Raiton: Seiteki no Ryou**** (Lightning Style: Static Charge)**!" and charging himself with electricity.

**//Intermission//**

"Wait a second!" Naruto suddenly yelled interrupting the flashback. "If they're that smart and they can do all those cool moves how the hell did they get stopped by Sasuke so easily!?"

Shadow looks at Naruto, a bit peeved that he had interrupted but replied, "They weren't taking you guys seriously. The fact they used that retarded puddle trick is proof."

Gouzu and Meizu were suddenly seen with a dreary background facing the wall with their eyes downcast. "We just wanted to try it out…" Meizu said pitifully.

Everyone else sweatdropped before Sakashi continued. "There's also the fact that older brothers tend to go insane when defending their little sisters. Onii-chan does it all the time!" The sweatdrops grew in size at this statement.

Shadow on the other hand looked at Sakashi a bit offended before responding. "What are you talking about Sakashi? I've never done anything that bad…"

Sakashi looks annoyed and retorts, "You usually threaten to kill anyone who shows an interest in me nii-chan…"

"I just threaten them… It's not like I've ever acted on my threats!" he replied to his little sister.

The young girl looked at him incredulously before replying, "When Naruto-kun told me I was cute you stole Zabuza-ottoji's sword and started trying to cut him in half!"

"I didn't actually cut him in half…" he said looking offended.

"Only because he replaced himself with the Kage Bunshin half way through!" she shouted. A loud thump accompanied the statement as most of the room face-vaulted at the knowledge.

The group shakily got back on their feet as Shadow just pretended not to care as he retorted, "It would have only severed his spine…"

Those who had gotten back on their feet promptly were on the ground again. Naruto then replied shakily as he got up… "At least it did something useful… I found out that I learn whatever my clones learn since the terror from Shadow chasing my clone around the forest came back to me when it was killed." He continued shivering at the memory.

Sakashi just shook her head as she continued the story.

**//Intermission KAI//**

Sakashi smiled contently as she heard Haku's shriek and the yells of the demon brothers. She just giggled, happy with her prank, but stopped when she heard Zabuza begin to laugh as well.

"He he he." The Demon of the Mist chuckled as he heard the yells of the Demon Brothers. "I pity your brother little girl. Gouzu and Meizu are relentless when it comes to defending Haku." He said to the young girl. "Wasn't that a bit mean?" he teased her.

The youngest Zeranion just sank back into her chair looking guilty and replied in a quiet voice, "I guess it might have been…"

Zabuza sweatdropped at her meakness. _'Is she bipolar?'_ he wondered to himself. Then aloud he said, "Well I suppose we should catch up with them. I'd hate for your brother to be killed over a prank."

Sakashi just nodded meekly and went back to the changing room. She changed quickly and followed Zabuza in pursuit of her brother and the three other nins…

**//At the battle//**

The Demon Brothers stood there puzzled. _'Nothing changed did it_?' they thought to themselves as there were no visible changes. They didn't have time to dwell as Shadow began his counter attack, and threw a barrage of shurinken at them. The two brothers dodged the projectiles well enough, but Shadow's plan had worked fine as several of them pinned the brothers' chain to the nearby tree and they were forced to abandon it. He then used chakra to boost his speed and caught the brothers unaware as he slammed his fist into Gouzu's stomach.

"AAAUGH!" the older brother yelled in pain as electricity coursed through his body. He was then blasted away by the electrical discharge and slammed into a tree where he slumped onto the ground unconscious.

"Nii-san!" Meizu yelled as he saw his brother taken out by what seemed like a simple punch. "You'll pay for that!" he yelled as he charged the young boy.

Seeing him charge, Shadow quickly put his hand into another seal and yelled, "**Raiton: Seiteki no Kaihou!**** (Lightning Style: Static Release)**" However, he had yet to perfect the jutsu and instead of an orb of spread out electricity, it shout out in about 6 uncontrollable bolts. By sheer luck one happened to hit Meizu in the shoulder and blasted the younger brother into a tree where he joined his brother in unconciousness on the ground, landing near a small pond.

Shadow let out a sigh of relief as he jumped onto the ground, walking over to them to make sure they were okay when he was stopped by a barrage of senbon needles. "You're pretty good if you beat Gouzu and Meizu, but I'm afraid that simple tricks like those won't work on me." Haku said from her position next to a tree dressed in her full hunter nin garb. She then began emitting killing intent of riteous womanly fury and glared at the now shaking boy. "I'm going to make you scream for peeping on me." she said in a quiet but intense voice.

The older Zeranion just gulped as he used Chakra to boost his movements and avoid a vicious kick that was aimed for his head. To his surprise however, Haku kept up with him and punched him in the stomach knocking the wind out of his lungs. He didn't have time to even really register this however when the ice mistress followed up her attack with a vicious kick to the chest and he was knocked back. As he struggled to get up he muttered, "I don't suppose a 'sorry' would get you to stop would it?"

Haku just glared again with slightly renewed killing intent and replied, "No, it won't." She then began going through hand seals and said to the injured boy, " I won't let you escape… I enjoy torturing perverts like you…**HiJutu: Makyou HyouShou!**** (Secret Technique: Demonic Ice Mirrors)**" With that Ice Mirrors formed from the pond water all around Shadow who looked at them worriedly. His worry increased tenfold when Haku stepped into a mirror and said to him, "You won't be able to catch me, so I'm going to use you to practice my knowledge of the human body. If I happen to mess up…"

Shadow was shaking in uninhibited terror by now. _'Note to self if you survive this. An angry woman is by far the scariest thing in the world!'_ he thought to himself as he prayed for his survival. He didn't have time to think more as Haku began leaping from mirror to mirror, stabbing him with senbon left and right. When Haku paused Shadow's mind began racing. _'Kuso! This is serious, I think she's really trying to kill me!'_ he thought as he noticed that several senbon were mere centimeters from crippling and vital points._'Gotta pull out all the stops!'_ he thought as he closed his eye.

The young Ice Mistress looked puzzled by the young boys action. "If you think you can find me by sound you're sorely mistaken." she said. She then pulled out several more senbon and prepared to charge again.

As she left the mirror however, she saw his eyes open wide as he shouted, "Sharingan!" With that cry he easily saw her movement and trajectory and threw a punch at her hoping to knock her out.

Seeing him suddenly keep up with her, Haku panicked a bit and threw her senbon earl towards Shadow who shifted his movement to avoid them. This was not without consequences however, as his punch missed Haku, but his momentum continued moving forward. This caused him to slam his torso into Haku and both teens found themselves falling to the ground, Haku's mask knocked away.

When they landed, Shadow had Haku pinned under his body and Haku was looking at him blushing, Shadow lightly blushing himself. For a moment they both froze in this position when they suddenly were snapped out of their thoughts when they heard a "CLICK."

They turned to see Sakashi with her instant camera and proudly displaying the photo. Zabuza was standing next to her, looking pretty amused himself at their predicament, although he was pondering how in gods name the boy had managed to catch Haku in that technique.

Suddenly realizing their compromising position the two teen scrambled away from each other, Haku now red with both anger and embarrassment. "You pervert!!!" she yelled at him. Suddenly an idea came to her and she grinned maliciously at her target who in turn shivered. "Since you were able to dodge my technique I think I'll just have to change it a bit. After all you can't dodge in mid-air!"

At this comment Shadow looked even more worried. Zabuza himself looked surprised by this declaration but opted to watch quietly Haku's new technique. _'Hmm… It seems that Haku will actually get much stronger from this little prank…'_

Haku once again flashed through a series of handseals and said in a quiet but deadly voice the name of her new technique. "**HiJutsu: Kibaku Makyou HyouShou!**** (Secret Technique: Exploding Demonic Ice Mirrors)**"

Shadow stood there stunned as the ice mirrors re-organized themselves in a new pattern. The new formation had 2 ice mirrors on both the top and bottom of the new ice orb. 8 mirrors surrounded the 2 bottom mirrors and were slanted upwards while 8 more surrounded the top 2 mirrors and were slanted down. Haku then stepped into an ice mirror, and instantly began her assault, attacking him from underneath, above, left, right, front, backwards, and any angle in-between the entire time keeping him airborne and unable to dodge despite easily seeing her movements._'What an amazing technique…'_ Shadow thought to himself as he slipped out of conciousness, covered in an enormous number of senbon.

Seeing her target fall unconscious, Haku stopped her attack and let him fall to the ground. She smiled in satisfaction of her new creation, when she suddenly fell onto her knees. _'Chakra exhaustion…'_ she thought to herself as her world began going black. _'It looks like my new technique uses at least three times as much Chakra as the original since I have to work against gravity whenever I attack from the below and have to move so rapidly…'_ And with that she fell asleep, exhausted by her efforts.

**//Town Hospital//**

"Ugh…" Shadow groaned as he sat up in his hospital bed. "I'm so going to get Sakashi for this later…" he muttered as he recalled being made into a human pincushion.

His thoughts were interrupted however when a voice came from his right saying, "I believe I owe you an apology." The young man turned and yelled out in fright when he saw Haku sitting on a chair next to his bed, Sakashi sitting in a chair next to her. The other teen looked guiltily at him before continuing, "I'm sorry about attacking you… I had no idea that your sister had tricked you into walking in on me…"

"Yeah I guess it is my fault." Sakashi said without a hint of guilt present.

The Demon Brothers just growled from their seats by the wall. They were a bit angry that they'd been beaten by experimental jutsus and that Shadow hadn't needed his bloodline to beat them. Though in hindsight he probably should have seeing how their weapons were coated in poison. Zabuza on the other hand just laughed, "Your sister's really something kid. Once she got over being shy around me she had to have become one of the biggest firecrackers I've ever met! I haven't laughed this much in years!"

Shadow wasn't as amused, "I can't believe you lied to me like that Sakashi! You told me that the men's baths were on the right!"

His sister for her part just grinned back and replied to him, "No… I said, "My left is always right!" You just misheard me and only hear right."

The older Zeranion just glared and retorted, "Don't give me that! This has got to be the 4th time you've pulled something like that!"

The Mist group just sweatdropped at this statement. _'FOURTH time?'_ they collectively thought.

Sakashi however just shrugged it off and responded, "It's not my fault that you don't listen closely."

"I don't listen!?" he said incredulously. "You just keep saying the 'My left is always' part really softly so I can't hear you and then you say loudly 'right!'"

The youngest Zeranion just smiled and said, "It's training! This is a great way for you to keep a keen and clean ear!"

Shadow just shook his head before glaring at her and saying, "That's it! From now on you're banned from saying, "My left is always right!""

Sakashi looked horrified by this statement. It was one of her favorite things to say! She quickly reverted to using **Papigan no Jutsu**** (Puppy Eyes Technique)**, and said to her brother with wide sorrowful eyes, "Please Shadow... Please let me say it!"

Having experienced this before, Shadow quickly looked away and bluntly stated, "No."

"Yes!" Sakashi replied like the child she was.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"NO Sakashi! And that's final!" Shadow finally finished, cutting her off.

Sakashi just sat there pouting, which Shadow pointedly avoided looking at. Zabuza was smiling at the performance and said to the injured boy, "Hey kid… You and your sister are doing pretty good on your own, but what do you say you join up with us for a bit?"

Shadow looked up, surprised by this proposition and replied, "Why would you want us to come with you?"

Zabuza chuckled and replied, "A bit of fresh air. Right now we're working as mercenaries just saving up money form job to job. We take money and missions from whoever can pay us what we want." His mood turned a little more serious and he continued, "That and I see you've got a lot of potential in you since you were the first one to beat Haku's technique even if you did need a bloodline. I can teach you all sorts of water techniques that you can use to supplement your lightning techniques. That and I can also help you condition your body and maybe how to use a weapon."

Looking into his eyes, Shadow found no sign of malice or deception, so after thinking it over for a bit he replied, "That sounds good, but I have a condition."

"And that is?" Zabuza asked the young man.

The older of the Zeranion siblings looked Zabuza dead in the eye and said, "You said that you take jobs from ANYONE who is willing to pay you. What I want is that Sakashi and I aren't forced to help you on any of your jobs that compromise our morals."

Zabuza looked thoughtful for a minute before he replied, "That's fine, but you have to agree to observe us and pull us out if something goes wrong."

Shadow smirked and said, "We'd have done that anyways. You've got yourself a deal…"

"Mamochi Zabuza" the Ex-Kiri nin replied. He then gestured to his subordinates, "And these are, Gouzu, Meizu, and Haku." Pointing to each one in turn.

The young man smiled and replied, "Zeranion Shadow and Zeranion Sakashi." After he said this however, his stomach growled and he looked at them sheepishly, and reached for the tray of food on the table next to him.

Haku just smiled and said, "Here, let me help."

She stood up and began walking to the tray, however she still had not yet fully recovered from her Chakra exhaustion. As a result she felt her leg's buckle and she fell… Right on top of Shadow who was still dressed in only his hospital gown. However what was most memorable about this moment was that when she fell onto the bed, her lips fell right on top of Shadow's. For the third time since they'd met the two were frozen in shock. However they were filled with dread when they heard a familiar telltale, "CLICK"

Haku scrambled off her new comrade blushing crimson again while Shadow was doing the same. Sakashi just took the new photo and asked sweetly, "So Shadow-nii? Can I keep on saying it or should I show this picture to everyone we meet?"

The two teenagers of the new group just looked at each other. They knew this picture would haunt them for years to come…

**//Flashback KAI//**

At the end of the story majority of the shinobi were laughing again except for Haku and Shadow who were just glad that Sakashi didn't actually SHOW them the picture.

"A-are y-you serious!" Naruto wheezed through his laughter. "Oh man, please do something to make her angry! I really want to see that picture!"

Haku just continued to blush scarlet while Shadow was thinking about ways to find and destroy all copies of Sakashi's blackmail album. When Sandaime finished chuckling at the expense of the two teens he said to the group, "Well, I think that everything is in order. I will let you all into the ranks of Konoha shinobi with a 3-month probationary period. Your rank will correspond to your former ones in Mist." He then took out 6 leaf headbands and placed them on his desk. The 6 of them picked up their headbands, but Haku, Shadow, and Sakashi looked a bit uneasy.

The Hokage looked puzzled by this, but Shadow explained, "Umm… Hokage-sama… Haku, Sakashi, and I were never officially part of any shinobi village… Therefore none of us have any rank."

When he heard this, Sarutobi gave Haku a questioning glance before continuing, "What about Haku? She has a mist headband and hunter-nin mask."

Haku gave a sheepish smile before responding, "They were both stolen… Zabuza-sama didn't formally induct me into the shinobi ranks because it would be easier for others to find out about my bloodline if I became a formal shinobi. He also didn't want anyone to know about all my abilities before the attempted coup so he took me on missions saying I was still being taught the basics and wasn't yet ready to become a Genin…"

The old man nodded in understanding and sat in thought for a few minutes. When he spoke up again he told them, "Seeing as you have no "official" experience as shinobi, I'm afraid I'm forced to assign you three the rank of Genin despite your difference in strength from most of our Genin. However, I'll put you three together to form Team 11, and the Chunin exams will be held in roughly 5 months from now so you shouldn't have to worry too much."

The three looked at each other before nodding in approval. "It can't be helped." Shadow said to the Hokage. "None of us are in the bingo book either so you can't even use that to rank us. We'll just have to stay Genin for a bit."

Sakashi however, had something else on her mind and asked, "Who will be our Jonin sensei?"

For a while, Sarutobi thought about the matter before replying, "As much as I would like to, the council would never allow me to have Zabuza as you're sensei. They would claim it's too dangerous having the former "Demon of the Mist" a sensei to three newly instated foreign nin, especially when they are valuable bloodline carriers. I'll have to discuss this matter with them this afternoon at the scheduled meeting. Hopefully, I'll be able to convince them to let Zabuza continue you're instruction. For now you three will become Team 11."

The group of new Genin nodded in understanding. Naruto then spoke up again and asked, "So where are they going to stay? They can't just sleep outside…"

Sarutobi smiled and replied, "I think it would be a good idea to put them into some of the vacant rooms in your apartment building. If I recall there are several of them, and it would put them close to someone they're familiar with."

Looked stunned for a few seconds, before a huge grin adorned his face a moment later. "YATTA!" Naruto shouted as he jumped into the air, ecstatic that he now had some neighbors and friends.

The assembled nin just smiled at his antics. The Hokage then spoke up again. "That will be all for now. Zabuza and Kakashi I'd like for you two to stay behind to discuss some more of the details. Team 11 will meet here tomorrow at 7:00a.m. so that I can give you your Jonin sensei. Until then dismissed."

The group of new leaf nin nodded and left the office. Once they were outside of the tower, Gouzu said to Haku, "We're gonna wait here for Zabuza-sama. Go ahead with Naruto and take a look around the village."

Haku nodded and smiled at her adoptive older brothers. "Okay, we'll meet you at Naruto's apartment building later then."

With that, Team 11 left as Naruto began taking them all over their new home. As they were walking down the streets, the three newly instated leaf-nin couldn't help but notice the weak killer intent and looks of contempt shown by a good majority of the populace. Haku was confused as to the reason that Naruto was viewed with such hatred. He seemed like a nice enough boy, what was it about him that made people dislike him so?

Sakashi on the other hand, had a slightly sad and disappointed expression on her face. Her new home didn't seem like such a great place right now. Shadow on the other hand was clenching his fist, making sure not to let anyone know that he was angry about their treatment of the Jinchuuriki since Naruto seemed to just shrug it off. _'I'll talk to him about this later…'_ he thought to himself in order to keep his calm façade. It was then that he noticed a presence following their group, years of caution and almost paranoia had honed his detection abilities. _'That's weird… Someone's following us, but I don't feel any killing intent…'_ he frowned but didn't say anything, looking over at his sister who just gave him a barely perceptible nod.

**//2 hours later//**

After being shown around the village for a few hours, Naruto's stomach suddenly gave a large growl. "He he…" he laughed a bit embarrassed. "I guess I'm a bit hungry. Come on! I'll show you to my favorite restaurant!"

Haku and Sakashi smiled and nodded in response, but Shadow replied, "I've got to use the restroom. I'll be back in a bit."

Naruto nodded in understanding and said, "We'll wait right here. Don't take too long okay?"

Shadow just nodded before walking off. Peeking around the corner of a nearby wall, Hyuuga Hinata was currently observing the object of her affection talk animatedly with Haku and Sakashi. She had only meant to observe Naruto for a little while since he'd just gotten back from his mission, but when she saw him giving three unfamiliar shinobi around Konoha she decided to watch for longer and watch their reactions to him.

While observing them, she was surprised by their reactions to the villager's killing intent. As far as she knew, no one in their age group except herself ever noticed the anger that the village seemed to show Naruto at all times, let alone seem saddened or angered by it. She watched them as they continued walking with him throughout the tour. The new arrivals showed Naruto a degree of respect she hadn't seen anyone show him in the past, listening to him talk and even asking him questions when they had them, and even engaged him in just idle chat, something that she didn't think anyone had ever really done before. It was then she noticed the most amazing thing about the entire tour… Naruto was smiling… Not the masked smile that he put up so that people wouldn't notice, not the impish grin that he did whenever he made a prank, but a genuine smile of happiness and contentment. Another thing that she had yet to see before today and made her smile.

As she watched Haku and Sakashi laugh as he told them about how he had painted the Hokage monument in broad daylight, her smile dropped and turned into a look of restrained worry. _'Naruto-kun has found people who like and accept him…'_ she thought to herself from her hiding place. Her gaze shifted to Haku and the younger girl _'I'm happy for him… But now I don't stand a chance of getting him to notice me… Both those girls are so pretty and confident, plus they can make him really smile… He'd never want someone as weak as me…'_

The Hyuuga heiress was broken out of these thoughts when from behind her she heard a voice say, "You know, it's not polite to follow people like this."

Hinata jumped with a start and spun around. Behind her, Shadow stood looking at her. A look of mild amusement on his face due to her reaction. The shy girl just began playing with her index fingers before stuttering out, "G-g-gomenosai..."

Seeing her reaction, Shadow just put on a reassuring smile and replied, "Don't worry about it. At least you aren't leaking killing intent like most of the villagers here." His face changing to a frown at the last statement. Then putting on a smile again he continued, "So why were you following us?"

"Ano… I s-saw N-Naruto-kun with y-you and I w-was curious as to w-why he seemed s-so h-happy." She stammered blushing a bit at being caught.

Shadow just let his smile grow a little more at this statement and replied, "I guess I can understand that." Hinata looked back at him surprised at the easy acceptance of her answer. Seeing her expression, Shadow continued, "When we first met him he was always wearing that fake smile of his as a mask. I'm guessing that's the only kind of smile you've seen him make in all the time you've been watching him in the past, so a real smile would most likely make you curious." Hinata looked embarrassed that she had been seen through so easily and just kept twiddling her fingers.

'_She's cute when she does that…'_ Shadow thought to himself as Hinata continued playing with her fingers, _'But she really needs some self-confidence.'_ Then aloud to her he said, "Why don't you join us for lunch? I'm sure he'd enjoy the company."

Hinata looked startled for a moment before stammering out, "Ano… w-what a-about…" she glanced towards Haku and Sakashi who were currently laughing as Naruto was bragging about how he 'defeated' the Hokage with his patented **Sexy no Jutsu** **(Sexy Technique)**.

Seeing where her gaze fell, Shadow came to an understanding and said in response, "You won't be bothering them. Haku-chan and Sakashi see Naruto as more a brother than anything."

The young Hyuuga looked surprised by this before a look of relief came over her face. _'They think of him like a sister. I might still have a chance!'_ she thought happily.

Shadow smiled when he saw the shift in her features. "So it's decided then. I'm happy to meet you…" he paused when he realized they didn't know each other's names yet.

Noticing his pause, the heiress stuttered, "H-hyuuga H-hinata…" with a small smile on her face.

The older boy smiled and replied, "Zeranion Shadow. Come on, I'll introduce you to Naruto." He then grabbed her hand before she could protest, and dragged her out to meet her crush making the young girl blush lightly at having a boy grab her by the hand.

Naruto turned and saw Shadow coming and yelled out, "Hey! Shadow you done!? Let's go to Ichiraku now!" The loud blonde then noticed the shy Hyuuga that he had pulled with him and asked, "Eh? Hinata? What are you doing here?"

Hinata just blushed when Naruto noticed her thinking, _'He remembered my name! I thought for sure he would have forgotten me already.'_

Shadow just smiled at her reaction as he released her hand and said to Naruto, "I met her on the way back and talked to her for a bit. Would it be okay to bring her with us for lunch?"

The blonde haired boy just gave a big smile and replied, "Sure! I don't see a problem." Turning to the other two girls he then asked, "What about you two?"

Haku smiled an replied, "That's fine with me. It will be great to make more friends." Sakashi however, reverted back to her shy state at the presence of the new friend, and meekly nodded.

Shadow sweatdropped when he saw Sakashi's meek response. _'I'll never understand how she can be so mischievous and outgoing around us, but be so shy around new people…'_ Then turning to Naruto he said, "Since there are no objections why don't you lead the way."

"Hai!" Naruto responded happily. "Come on guys, let's go to Ichiraku!" The blonde then lead the way towards the stall, the rest followed, Haku with an amused expression at seeing Sakashi's shy side again, Sakashi looking at Hinata with a shy glance, Hinata with a small smile at getting a chance to eat lunch with Naruto, and Shadow making sure Hinata didn't try to run away.

**//At Ichiraku's//**

"Hey! Ojii-san I'm back!" Naruto called out as they arrived at the ramen stand.

Teuchi turned around and replied, "Naruto! It's good to see you. And who are they?" The last part indicating towards the other 4 Genin.

Naruto just replied, "Oh! These are my friends Haku-chan, Shadow, Sakashi-chan, and Hinata." Gesturing to each one in turn.

"It's nice to meet you." Haku replied politely.

Shadow smiled and said, "Naruto's been dying to take us here."

Sakashi just meekly hid behind her brother and peeked around him, unsure of how to talk to this new person. While Hinata smiled nervously and bowed

Teuchi for his part was happy that Naruto had made some friends. "Friends eh? In that case this one's on the house."

"Are you sure about that? We have money…" Shadow offered when Teuchi made his declaration.

The old man just waved his hand and replied, "Don't worry about it! Naruto eats here all the time but this is the first time he's ever brought friends."

Shadow was about to protest before Haku intervened and said, "We appreciate it."

Teuchi nodded and asked the gathered Genin, "So what will it be?"

"I'll have a shrimp ramen." Shadow said after giving into the ramen makers offer.

"Chicken please." Haku replied.

"Ano… A m-miso ramen please…" Hinata almost whispered.

Sakashi looked up shyly and said, "Shrimp ramen please." From her position at the end of the stand next to her brother.

Naruto said, "I'll start with Beef ramen today old man!"

Teuchi nodded and got to work on their orders. Once they received their orders the group of assembled genin made various small talk, mostly about where Team 11 came from since Hinata had never seen them in the village before. About an hour later, all but Sakashi had finished their meals except for Sakashi who was always a slow eater.

"That hit the spot!" Naruto said happily as he finished off his last bowl.

Shadow smiled and said, "I know what you mean." He then frowned and continued, "But I can't believe you were able to eat 15 bowls!"

Haku and Hinata were surprised as well having only been able to eat one each. Naruto however replied, "I can't help it! Ramen is AWESOME! Besides you ate 5 bowls yourself!"

Shadow just scratched his chin a bit embarrassed and retorted, "I was hungry!"

Haku just shook her head and replied, "I really don't understand how you can eat so much and stay so thin…"

The one-eyed Genin just scratched his chin again and decided to change the subject. "So Hinata…" he said to the shy girl who looked up at the mention of her name. "We've told you a lot about us, but we haven't really heard anything about you." He said glancing at Naruto real quick to make sure he was paying attention.

Hinata looked a bit startled at the change in topic and replied, "Ano… I-I'm n-not that i-interesting…" she said lamely, trying to avoid the topic.

Seeing her try to worm her way out, Shadow cut off her escape route when he said, "Neither are we in the grand scheme of things. Just because your past doesn't involve the murder of your parents and living without support from the age of 8, it doesn't mean that you're boring."

The young Hyuuga, seeing her escape route cut off tried to calm herself and continued, "W-well, I was p-put on Team 8 with I-Inuzaku Kiba a-and Aburame Sh-Shino. M-my sensei i-is Y-yuhei Kurenai, a g-genjutsu specialist. W-we were m-made t-to be a t-tracking and r-recon t-team since K-Kiba-kun has e-enhanced senses, Sh-Shino-kun can use i-insects t-to g-gather information, a-and I h-have the B-Byakugan."

Naruto looked confused and replied, "Bi-yuk-uu-jam? What's that?"

Being somewhat used to his ignorance by now, Shadow just sighed and said to him, "The_Byakugan_ Naruto is the Kekei Genkai for the Hyuuga clan. It allows the users to see almost 360 degrees around them, as well as through objects. It can also let them see their opponent's Chakra network and Tenketsu Points, and allow them to seal off their opponent's Chakra or attack internal organs with Chakra."

Hinata looked surprised by Shadow's knowledge and asked, "H-how do y-you know s-so m-much about t-the Byakugan?"

"My parents told me all about Konoha's clans when they were alive." The young man replied. "After all, they knew that we were still wanted by them, and knowing what the clans could do would help us if we ever had to fight hunter-nin." Their conversation suddenly stopped however when Sakashi spoke up.

"I'm done." She said pushing her bowl away.

"Finally!" Naruto said looking at the 11-year old. "You took so long!"

Sakashi looked embarrassed and replied, "I'm a slow eater Naruto-nii."

Shadow just sighed and instead turned to Teuchi and asked him, "Are you sure you don't want us to pay… Sakashi ate quite a bit…"

The old ramen maker shook his head and said, "No, I told you I'd treat you and so I will… But I don't think that I'll do it again any time soon… I had no idea your sister could eat as much ramen as Naruto!"

With that statement, Haku, Hinata, and Naruto's eyes all snapped to the pile of ramen bowls next to Sakashi and sure enough there were 15 bowls stacked there, stunned by the appetite of the young girl.

Sakashi just blushed and replied, "I have a healthy appetite."

This statement was met with silence. Eventually the silence was broken Shadow just shook his head and said, "Well we should be going now." He got up to leave but then remembered Hinata. Turning to the Hyuuga heiress he asked her, "Hey Hinata. Would you like to train with us tomorrow? We're going to be helping Naruto work on his Chakra control, and your Byakugan would be able to help us tell him what he's doing wrong."

Hinata looked startled by the invitation before replying, "H-hai…" _'I get to train with Naruto-kun!'_

Naruto just smiled and said, "Thanks a lot Hinata! My Chakra control is horrible so I can use all the help I can get!"

The young heiress looked startled, but managed a slow nod. _'Naruto-kun is thanking me! Maybe I still have a chance! I don't know how much I can help being so weak, but maybe I can help him just a little!'_

Seeing her beginning to go into her own world, Shadow said to the loudmouth, "We better go to your apartment Naruto. Lead the way."

Oblivious that he was purposefully being distracted, Naruto just smiled and replied, "OK! Follow me! Later Hinata-chan!" He then bounded off followed by the new Team 11.

Hinata sat frozen in her seat for a few seconds before she whispered, "He called me Hinata-chan…" then promptly fainted.

Teuchi saw this and just shook his head with a small smile and saying, "Young love…"

**AN// That's it for Chapter 3! This time I decided to put in the story about how Shadow and Sakashi met the mist nins, as well as revealing the technique used to defeat the Sharingan user that Zabuza and Haku alluded to during their fights with Team 7. I also introduced Hinata into the story, and I guarantee that she gets some confidence later. Keep in mind there are 5 months before the Chunin Exams in my story. **

**Thanks for taking the time to read Chapter 3 of Sibling Stars!**

**PLEASE REVIEW! I just want to improve my writing so tell me what I'm doing right or wrong!**


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